Dancing through the Night
by Ghrathryn
Summary: While in Canterlot, Star encounters Celestia while Luna comes across Trixie telling stories and does a little story telling of her own.
1. Chapter 1

I don't own the MLP: Friendship is Magic characters, but thanks to a thread on one of my forums "suggesting" that I watch the show, I ended up doing so and this started bugging me. I guess it's fair considering I've not had my OC in use for a while.

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><p>Dark trees flashed passed on either side of him, far too quickly for most eyes to follow, the dark horse didn't care, his eyes could see them. Spotting something up ahead, he shifted slightly, feeling his legs tingle as electricity arced around them. Tensing, he sprang over a fallen tree, his hooves making dull explosions as the electricity surrounding them discharged into the ground on landing. <em>Ha!<em> He thought to himself, resuming his pace. _I'd like to see a normal horse pull something like that off, half-way through and not even broken a sweat._

A tree loomed up out of the shadows in front of him and he snorted at it, feeling electricity crawling over his body, spiking and sparking off his fur and the few scales he had. Putting his head down, he ran towards the tree and through it, the energy of his draconic spirit allowing him to become ethereal momentarily.

Minutes later, he was out of the forest and running towards a small town. _Guess I'd better kill the light show._ He thought to himself, letting the electrical energy fade away as the world returned to its normal speed. His grandfather had asked him to come and have a look at this place as stealth probes had detected something strange coming from the moon above it. Of course, his grandfather probably would have sent others, except for the fact that this world's most intelligent beings seemed to be equine in nature, like him.

The horse snorted to himself, like he wouldn't stand out like a 'sore thumb' as the two-foots put it given he would be a giant compared to horses, let alone the ponies that were supposed to be living on this world. Approaching the village, he frowned, looking around. The place seemed to be rather… empty at the moment. Granted it was still fairly dark out here, but there should have been some movement since it was supposed to be getting on for dawn.

Flicking his tail, he looked around, trying to figure out where everyone was then he saw a place with actual lights coming from it. _Time to meet the neighbours, I guess._ He thought to himself, making his way towards the building.

Taking a deep breath, he slipped inside, focusing on projecting a feeling of 'I'm not here, nothing to see here'. It was probably a good thing he did as straight in the door he found himself surrounded by ponies of all colours, most barely three-quarters of his twenty-hands to the withers. All of them seemed to be waiting for something though. Frowning, he found himself a quiet corner to observe from, studying the ponies around him.

Beyond the normal colours for equines, there seemed to be more than a few actually blue or red ponies around, even a pink one, and several greens and purples. All of them seemed to have an image on their flanks, specifically over their haunches. Another reason he would probably stand out, what with his hide being mostly black, save scattered sliver spots that made his hide look like the night sky, still no-one seemed to be watching him at the moment.

Flicking his tail, he listened idly to the conversation drifting around him. From what he heard, it seemed that these ponies had been up all night — and a lot of them were already ready to fall asleep it seemed — because of some sort of sun celebration on what was supposed to be the longest day of the year. He glanced out of the window and snorted softly, it didn't seem to be getting any lighter around here so something was up.

He felt the growl from the spirits that rested against his forelegs before one brown pony with a collar and glasses on started speaking. Reptilian eyes scanned the shadows around him, silvery pupils dilating to take in as much light as possible. He wasn't paying attention to what she was saying, but he caught the word "Celestia" from the brown mare before some curtains on an upper story were opened. He could feel… there! Raising his head, he faced the spot that had previously been hidden behind the curtains. Something was coming, something evil.

He was probably the only one not surprised when the dark mare appeared on the balcony. He recognised the type, an Alicorn, half-unicorn, half-Pegasus, with the talents of both. Still, she probably wouldn't be as much trouble as some of the things he had faced in the past. He watched her as she taunted the gathered assembly about being her subjects, spooking a pale yellow Pegasus that was hovering near some birds.

There was something about that mare. He frowned at her, watching her stalking around. For all the fear she was generating from the majority of the crowd — not counting a blue Pegasus or the pink horse that started babbling about guessing games — the mare didn't Feel that evil, more… angry and anguished at the same time.

Narrowing his eyes, he watched as several Pegasi in armour took off, flying towards the mare. He felt the build-up of electricity before she released it and simply yanked it away from her, bringing it down in front of the ponies before dissipating it with a snort of derision. His grandfather could do better than that at controlling the weather, and storms in particular… hell; _he_ could do better than that.

Seeing her turn her head slightly, looking for him surreptitiously, he decided to give her something to see. Grinning to himself, he looked up at her, meeting her gaze. Shifting slightly, he tossed his mane in a motion most equines had used once or twice to attract attention during courting. Let her think what she will of that.

It didn't take long for her to turn into some sort of creeping patch of space and fly off out the doorway. He hadn't seen that one coming, but maybe the fact there were so many ponies here had made her cautious if nothing else. Snorting to himself, he looked around, watching a purple unicorn hurrying out after her, followed by several others. Frowning to himself, he followed behind, curious as to what they were up to.

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><p>Following the ponies to the library, he paused outside to listen in on them, frowning when he heard that the one that had run off was called 'Nightmare Moon', apparently a known, if forgotten, 'evil' around these parts and that the unicorn was going to try to find something called the Elements of Harmony to battle her. Well, it wasn't something he really needed to get involved in if they had already gotten things figured out.<p>

Turning away from the window he was listening at, he frowned, seeing the star-shape of Nightmare Moon fly away from the area. That was likely to complicate the ponies' quest, but with six of them going, no doubt they would manage to make it through. There wasn't anything too bad in the 'Everfree Forest'; at least not that he had seen when he had run through it earlier.

Still… apparently there was supposed to be another sister around somewhere, one that hadn't appeared. He looked up at the moon overhead, he couldn't do anything about ending this night, but maybe the other sister could, if he could find her then maybe she could talk sense into the Alicorn pony. If not… well, she couldn't be any worse than the daemons he had killed in the past.

Of course, first he had to find out where she was, meaning he would need something with a bit better sense of smell as his form, and probably something with hands so he could get into areas ponies couldn't.

Making his way back to the house he had started in, he flicked his tail as he watched the other ponies starting to move around again. When he finally reached the place, ignoring the somewhat distraught guards, he made his way inside and shifted from his natural horse form to a bipedal dragon that stood about as tall.

Rolling his shoulders, he made his way up to where Nightmare Moon had first appeared and crouched, sniffing for her scent. Frowning, he moved back into the area behind it.

It was probably a good thing that most of the folks around were rather short on focus at the moment given he was moving around them, and even with his projection, one of them probably should have noticed him.

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><p>Luna stood on the balcony of Canterlot castle, looking out at the night sky. Even though her return to Ponyville after her encounter with the Elements of Harmony and the ponies that represented them had been welcoming, things hadn't really changed and if anything, the ponies here in Canterlot were <em>less<em> welcoming than they had been a millennium ago.

She huffed out a sigh, watching the stars whirl by overhead. Every time she tried to make friends or help some pony, they pushed her away or scorned her. Her tail twitched. Here she was, an Alicorn with the power to move the moon to her whim, to craft the night sky, spicing the darkness with a million points of light and yet nopony wanted to be her friend. Even though she had Celestia, she was more alone now than she had been on the moon.

It wasn't that she blamed them given what she had attempted to do twice over, but it hurt to see them all with their friends, and yet whenever she offered a hoof in friendship, she was scorned. It harkened back to the days before she became Nightmare Moon, when she had wanted nothing more than for her work… for her nights to be admired and to have the respect for her hard work.

Closing her eyes, she lowered her head, feeling tears building at the corners of her eyes. She had been an artist, creating a work of splendour from darkness and yet nopony had even thought to stay awake long enough to admire her work. The hurt and the pain from the rejection had brought Nightmare Moon into existence with an insane plan to force Equestria to give her respect by making the night last forever.

Blinking the tears away, she turned away from the night she had crafted, making her way back to her bedroom. Once inside, she crossed off another day on her calendar, another day of failure to get even one friend beyond her sister and climbed into her bed, pulling her blanket over herself with her magic.

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><p>The landscape she found herself in looked nothing like Equestria, or even the moon, it was completely alien to her, though one thing was far too obvious. This land was covered in unnatural darkness, one so thick that Luna could taste it at the back of her throat.<p>

Coughing, she looked around, trying to figure out what was going on. Was this what she had wanted as Nightmare Moon? Was this the result of what she had thought would be a good way to punish the ponies she was supposed to rule and gain their respect or fear?

"Keep it together, we're almost there!" A voice cut through the darkness. Turning, Luna blinked as a black shape ran passed her, small silver markings visible on his flanks. She wasn't sure how she knew that this one was a stallion, but he was certainly bigger than any pony she had met before, and bigger than the others that followed him… he looked familiar though.

Turning, she found herself following the horses — definitely not ponies; they had the wrong look for it — without even touching the ground. Twitching her tail, she watched the stallion, and saw him turn back at a cry from one of the younger members of the group. He pulled the colt free of some… creature's arms just before something that looked like a walking skeleton of a horse attacked them.

Luna gasped, watching the fight. She had never seen a stallion fight before, and she was shocked at the viciousness of it, yet even as she watched, she knew which of the two she wanted to win. The black stallion was protecting others; he was fighting to save them. She watched as he danced and dodged the skeletal horse, his hooves slamming into it time and time again before finally he was forced to break off by something larger attacking him from the air.

She watched as the stallion leapt away from the attack with an amazing amount of grace — was he really just an earth walker or did he actually have wings somewhere? — and turn to face the flier. She blinked as something flickered over him for a moment before the sky was rent asunder by a massive lightning bolt that ripped a gaping hole through the flying thing. Seeing it happen, she gasped in shock as she suddenly recognised the horse. He had been the one she had seen as Nightmare Moon, the one that she had spotted after something had ripped away the lightning she had tried to use on two of Celestia's guards.

Looking down at him, she saw him snort before turning and bolting off across the dead ground, electricity arching around his body. What was— her thought was cut off as she heard a roar. Turning, she screamed as another of the flying things flew straight through her, chasing after the horse. The shock threw her out of the dream.

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><p>Luna woke up shivering and covered in a cold sweat, only to find her sister standing worriedly over her. Wrapping her forelegs around herself, she shivered as Celestia nuzzled her. "W-what are you d-doing up, Sister?" She asked, stumbling a little on the words.<p>

"I could hear something through the wall, Luna." Celestia said gently, lowering herself down to her sister's level. "It sounded like you were having a nightmare about something. Want to talk about it?" She asked, cocking her head slightly at her sister.

Luna shifted, climbing out of her bed and stripping it of the sheets before putting fresh ones on. "I… don't really know what it was about." She admitted flicking her tail, having her sister there was already helping to dispel the chill of the dream thankfully. "I do know that there was a horse in there, one that I saw in Ponyville when I returned from the moon. He was… he was leading a group of horses away from something, something bad, through this dead world." She looked up at her sister, who was simply sitting, listening to her. "I think it might have been what might have happened to Equestria if I hadn't been stopped." She admitted.

Celestia shifted slightly, taking hold of Luna's blankets and drawing them down so her sister could get back into the bed. "Do you think it was a warning, Luna?" She asked gently.

Was it warning? Luna frowned as she thought about it. "No," She answered finally, "I think it was something true, something that happened, but I don't know why I dreamed it, or why that horse was fighting things that make the worst of the creatures in the Everfree Forest look tame…" She frowned for a moment, getting into the bed again. "Well… actually, I know why he was fighting the ones I saw." She closed her eyes, settling herself down again. "He was fighting… to protect a herd, including at least one colt." She continued softly.

"And you think this horse is still out there somewhere?" Celestia asked, getting a nod from her sister.

"Yeah… and he's more powerful than he looks since he's just an earth pony in looks, but he ripped a lightning spell away from me easily and I saw him ki-kill one of his attackers during my dream." Luna said, stumbling over the word. Even at her worst, she hadn't truly wanted to kill other ponies; it just wasn't in her nature. She sighed softly. That horse was out there somewhere, and no doubt it could and would fight and kill others if it felt it needed to. They needed to do something about it before it got into trouble.

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><p>"<em>My Dearest Twilight Sparkle,<em>

_I am sorry to drop this task on you and your friends at such short notice, but my beloved sister woke me up by having a nightmare last night. In it, she says she saw two things; firstly what she thinks might have happened if it were not for you and your friends using the Elements of Harmony to free her from her own darkness._

_The second thing, however, is the one I would like your help with. In her dream she saw a horse — an actual horse, not a pony like us — protecting others from something worse than Nightmare Moon. She believes that this horse was around Ponyville when she returned during the Summer Sun Celebration and that it was he that protected several of my guardsponies._

_I do not know if this is true or not, though I believe my sister believes it true. Luna also believes that this horse is still somewhere around Ponyville. I would like you and your friends to be on the lookout for him, but if you do find him, please __**be careful**__, apparently this horse can not only willingly kill others, but can also control the weather to some degree._

_Luna can't remember exactly what he looks like, except that he is a giant, even compared to me apparently, and that he has no cutie mark. Beyond that, she couldn't really tell me much. Please be careful, and if you see this horse, get Spike to send a message to us here in Canterlot right away. If nothing else, we need to know where such a potential danger might be so we can warn other ponies to steer clear of him._

_Your Teacher_

_Princess Celestia."_

Finishing reading the letter to the six gathered ponies, the small purple dragon rolled it up and sealed it again, putting it out of the way. "That was the letter the Princess sent to us yesterday," The dragon said, looking around at the six ponies. "She hasn't sent anything else since, but I guess it means trouble." He looked around at the group and shifted uncomfortably. "Err… Twi, do you want to take over here?" He asked, coughing a little at the end.

Nodding a purple unicorn pony got to her feet and moved around in front of the other ponies, huffing out a sigh as she looked around at them and spotted the yellow Pegasus hiding behind the blue Pegasus and the orange Earth pony. "First off, Fluttershy, there's no danger here. We're just doing this to be safe, since nopony has even seen a horse in millennia and Princess Luna had a really odd dream." She said rolling her eyes at the Pegasus she had named. Over the past few months, she had learned that this was about typical Fluttershy, that pony really was afraid of her own shadow.

"So why are we getting involved anyway, Twilight?" The blue Pegasus asked, shifting her wings slightly and flicking her rainbow coloured tail. "I mean don't the Princesses have guards and such to do pony hunts?"

Twilight shifted slightly, looking a little uncomfortably. "Usually… you'd be right, Rainbow Dash, but I think in this case Princess Celestia wants to avoid causing more panics around here if possible." She said, shaking her head and tossing her dark mane from one side of her purple neck to the other in the process. "I mean we've had Nightmare Moon, a dragon sleeping in a cave, Zecora spooking everyone because she's different then the fashion show, _then_ Trixie telling tales and Snips and Snails deciding that it would be a _good_ idea to wake up an Ursa Minor so she could prove what she was telling us."

The orange Earth pony tossed her head to get her mane out of her eyes before scratching at one ear. "Shouldn't we have seen him come to one of those if he was still here?" She asked, carefully putting a cowpony hat back on her head. "Ah mean if this horse was going to look for trouble an' all; shouldn't he have shown up to see the other trouble?"

"When he can apparently use enough magic that he could be right in the middle of the Summer Sun Celebration and only Luna noticed him and that only because he actually interfered with her spells?" Twilight asked, cocking her head at her friend. "I'm sorry, Applejack, but for all we know right now, he could well have shown up and chosen not to interfere or only interfere a bit then gone again before we noticed anything."

"Huh, ya got a point there, Sugar-cube." Applejack commented, frowning as she thought about it. "We were all a mite busy dealin' with what was goin' on at the time rather than lookin' fer anyone new." Now that she thought about it, they had been rather too wrapped up in the crisis to pay much attention to things happening outside of it.

"Do we even know what we would be looking for?" The white unicorn asked.

Twilight shrugged. "A horse that's probably pretty tall and has a dark or black coat with no cutie mark is all that Celestia said, so that's about all we've got to go on." She flicked her tail, looking at her friends. "I would think you five would know better than me who is likely to be a new pony in Ponyville."

"Well this'll be like finding one of Rarity's needles in Sweet Apple Acres… on the ground." Rainbow Dash muttered before sighing. "Can't we get something… easy for once?" She asked, causing several of the others to look at her in surprise. "What?"

"Are you feelin' alright, Dashie?" The pink pony asked, cocking her head at her rainbow-maned friend, "Because you're always the one to take the hard way normally."

Rainbow Dash huffed out a sigh, but was stopped from answering by Applejack. "Ah'm sure it's weariness talking, Pinkie Pie." The orange pony said, flicking her blonde tail. "Ah can't say as Ah blame her though… since we went to recover the Elements of Harmony, we do seem to get a lot more work comin' from the Princess than we're used to. Ah wouldn't refuse Princess Celestia for anythin', but it gets wearin' at times, havin' to do things for her," Dash nodded, glad to be saved from having to answer the question since she would probably say something she would regret later.

Twilight nodded slightly, as did the others. "I can understand that, Dash." She said, shifting slightly. "Unfortunately for all that we're fairly close to Canterlot here, we don't actually have any guardsponies stationed here, so it falls to the townsfolk to take care of themselves, and since I came here, it seems that Princess Celestia feels that as her student, I should be the one looking into most of the trouble that seems to have started since I came here."

Fluttershy, having been left with few areas to hide and with things being a bit more tame than she had probably feared, moved around to bump Twilight with her wing. "We're not blaming you, Twilight." She said softly.

Twilight smiled at her shy friend, nosing her gently. "I know, Fluttershy." She turned to look at the others. "I think… the best thing we can really do at the moment is alert Mayor Mare and keep an eye open for a horse that fits the description we have, what there is of it. If you girls bring anything you find to me, I can compile it and ask Spike to send it to Princess Celestia. Sound like a plan?" The other five nodded their heads. "Good, then how about we tidy up in here and relax for a while before we get started?"

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><p>He grunted as a buffalo slammed into his shoulder as he ran along the plains. Turning slightly to glare at it, he rammed it back; hard enough that it was actually knocked several feet away to tumble along the side of the path he was taking. Snorting at the beast, he looked around. One buffalo was easy meat, a few would just be fuel to the fire, but with an entire herd around, he was outnumbered and he was trying to avoid using his second preferred form at the moment as the locals would probably run screaming from him… in this situation, it was rather tempting, however.<p>

Shaking his head, he looked at the distant horizon, towards where the first town he had visited lay. Despite being out on the borders, it had a sense of timelessness and culture that suited him far more than any of the other places he had been since coming to this world… since his hunt for the captured princess while six kids had gone to hunt for the means to sooth a broken heart.

Electricity flickered over his body as he summoned his powers, building and building until it crawled over his hide, causing the buffalo to shy away from him. Shifting his focus, he felt his pace grow smoother as he shifted into a power enhanced run, hooves striking the ground in a rhythm all their own.

Soon he left the buffalo herd behind as the horizon exploded towards him. Running like this was as close as he got to flying in his natural form and it let him cover a lot of ground in a hurry, plus it was fun, just being able to run, run, run faster and faster.

Flicking his tail, he pulled on the energy surrounding him a bit more, pushing himself faster and faster until a sonic boom echoed around him, telling him that he had gotten past the speed of sound.

Soon enough he spotted several of the buildings he recognised as being part of Ponyville. Now he just needed a place to stay… The forest would probably do, it was wilder than most of this land, certainly more what he was used to with the uglies around the place.

Turning slightly, he angled towards the forest, keeping an eye on the town as he past it. Most likely he would be going there to interact with others at some point, so he would need to figure out how to do it. Snorting to himself, he continued on into the forest, not noticing a blue Pegasus flying overhead.

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><p>Flying over the outskirts of Ponyville, Rainbow Dash blinked as something caught her attention on the ground. She looked down, frowning. She had seen a fair amount in her time, especially since crashing into Twilight when the purple unicorn came into Ponyville, but she had never seen a lightning bolt moving at ground level before.<p>

Banking around, she followed the lightning, watching as it moved around the town and into the Everfree Forest. "No way," She muttered to herself, switching to a hover, looking out at the forest. There was nothing that she knew of that could do something like that. Oh, she left rainbow trails when she flew fast and the Wonderbolts left trails themselves because they were plain awesome, but there had never been an Earth walker that had left a trail of anything except dust before now.

It couldn't be any of the creatures that were known from the Everfree Forest… they didn't venture outside the forest unless something disturbed them, the way Snips and Snails had disturbed that Ursa Minor and it had chased them into town. It wasn't a gryphon or a dragon as they would have flown so could it be that alien horse?

Princess Celestia's letter to Twilight hadn't said anything about the horse being able to do things like that, but maybe she hadn't known about it. Did she go after it, into the Everfree Forest? Rainbow shook her head. No, Princess Celestia had said to be careful and if that horse could disrupt Nightmare Moon's spells and if it was the one under that lightning that had flashed across the ground, she would be out of her league alone… she needed Twilight at least.

Turning to dash off again, she paused for a moment. Had she stopped jumping in with all hooves all of a sudden or had she just learned to be a bit more careful over the past few months? Twitching her tail, Rainbow looked back at the Everfree Forest. No, she still wanted to find out more about this horse, but she wasn't as stupid as to risk going into an unnatural place like the Everfree Forest alone, especially when the one she was looking for had the Sun Princess worried and, if she was right, could run at least as fast as she could fly while doing a Sonic Rainboom.

No, she needed help on this one, from Twilight's magic at the very least, preferably from everyone. Flying back to the town, she headed for the library. Twilight was almost always there, and if she wasn't, Spike would probably know where she was supposed to be.

Landing outside the library, she pushed the door open and went inside, "Twilight?" Rainbow called, looking around to try to spot the unicorn.

"Over here Dash," Twilight's voice drifted from one of the side areas. Making her way over, Rainbow Dash flicked her tail, seeing the unicorn with her muzzle in a book, somehow that didn't surprise her.

"Whatcha readin'?" Dash asked, making her way over to where her friend was standing.

Twilight turned to look at the rainbow-maned pony. "I found a book about horses in one of the older sections of the library, so I'm reading it to try to find out a bit more about them."

Rainbow Dash frowned, shifting slightly on her hooves. "Does it say anything about horses being able to run as fast as a Sonic Rainboom?" She asked.

"Not that I've seen," Twilight replied, shaking her head before frowning at Dash. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I saw what looked like a lightning bolt moving along the ground," Dash replied. "It came up from the direction of Appaloosa, then turned and disappeared into the Everfree Forest. I don't know of anything else that it could be since no Earth pony can do that and none of the creatures of the Forest come out unless they're disturbed… and fliers like dragons and gryphons wouldn't be running around."

Twilight frowned, using her magic to flick through the book. "That's… odd." She admitted eventually. "I've never heard of a horse having any abilities similar to us ponies and it doesn't say anything in here about them being magical in any way."

Rainbow frowned. "You or Spike mentioned that the only reason we knew about this horse in the first place was because it interfered with Nightmare Moon's spells, doesn't that suggest that it has magic?" She asked.

"I guess… but it still doesn't give us any clue as to what type of magic, Dash." Twilight said with a sigh. "If you're right though, we know it went into the Everfree Forest and that it's been moving around, if there's been no reports to Princess Celestia about trouble being caused by a giant pony, we should probably be safe enough to say that this horse isn't going to cause too much trouble."

"Shouldn't we go after it?" Dash asked.

Twilight shook her head. "Not without everybody, not after the last few times we've been through the Forest. Besides, it's getting late so it'll probably find somewhere to sleep and we can keep an eye out in town or go searching tomorrow after we've gathered everyone."

"I guess you're—" Rainbow Dash was cut off by the sound of a thunderbolt. "What the…? There wasn't supposed to be a storm scheduled today." She muttered, moving to look out of the window, where dark clouds had gathered and were starting to send lightning streaking across the sky. "Aw nuts… I was planning on getting some practice in for the Wonderbolts today."

Coming up to join her, Twilight flicked her tail. "It's certainly starting to come down out there…." She murmured, shifting slightly.

Rainbow Dash nodded disappointedly. "Yeah," She sighed, turning away from the window before feeling Twilight's hoof on her shoulder.

"Since you're probably stuck here for a while, why don't you come with me, Dash?" Twilight asked, dropping her hoof back to the ground. "I've got some books here somewhere that might be things you'd like, stuff on the Wonderbolts and flying, maybe a few adventure stories."

"You actually have those sorts of things?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking incredulously at Twilight.

Twilight nodded, "Well, yes, this _is_ a library after all." She pointed out to her friend, leading her towards the sections where the books she thought Dash would be interested in were stored.


	2. Chapter 2

Second chapter, same disclaimer applies, only the Dforgrym (originals) belong to me, the rest are Hasbro's creations. This chap's got some developmental shipping, though hopefully the characters are mostly in character... save for Trixie, she's probably way out considering the boasting she did in the show. I think that's somewhat justified given she's surrounded by undead then gets a storm literally dropped on her though.

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><p>He wasn't sure what he had been expecting to find in the Forest today, creatures that didn't seem to be as bright and happy as the ponies in the towns and villages certainly, but not undead things. Those, he had hoped, wouldn't have been around this world. Unfortunately it seemed that they were, and that they were attacking a light blue Unicorn.<p>

If there was one thing on this strange planet that he knew how to deal with, it was undead. Shifting slightly as he ran, he focused his energy for a moment before slamming into one of the skeletal ponies. Letting the lightning he had surrounded himself with carry his momentum, he reared and spun on his hind legs, slamming his fore-hooves into another skeleton's skull, smashing it to powder.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, dropping to all fours before planting himself firmly between the unicorn and the approaching skeletons. "Don't you know that odds like these are insane for anyone that's not been fighting worse things for longer than these things have been mouldering?" He twitched his tail as he counted the animated bone piles in front of him. Eighteen of them, not counting the two he had already felled. From what he'd seen, anyone from this world would have been overwhelmed by this assault.

He heard the unicorn snort from behind him as a small storm cloud gathered over one of the skeletons, sending lightning down on it. "The Great and Powerful Trixie did not ask for your help, Commoner, nor your interference."

He snorted, seeing one of the skeletons charge at him. Moving to intercept, he grunted as sharp hooves slammed into his shoulder. "She might not have asked for it, but she will be the Dead and Risen Trixie if she tries fighting twenty undead alone." He pointed out, spinning around and delivering a kick that shattered several of the skeleton's ribs, knocking it down. "Things that are dead know no pain, fear or love… especially this kind. All they will do is protect their assigned territory or the area around their graves right up until someone destroys them and usually if they're guarding something, then either there's a curse that'll raise those they kill as zombies or whoever raised them is around to do the same."

"What?" The unicorn asked shocked enough that she lost control of her spell, allowing the skeleton that had been pinned by the storm cloud time to escape. "How in Equestria do you know something like that?"

"Because I'm not from Equestria," He replied, dodging another attack before rearing up and slamming his hooves down on his opponent again and again until all that was left of it was shattered fragments of bone. "Where I come from, these things aren't exactly uncommon." Hearing bone clattering to his left, he glanced in that direction, seeing one of the skeletons trying to sneak up on the unicorn. His eyes narrowed slightly, glowing as he tapped his powers.

He saw the unicorn glance up and yelp as the skeleton reared and froze solid, water vapour in the air condensing rapidly around it until the ice froze and cracked the bones. Turning away as she figured out what was going on and shattered the ice skeleton with several heavy kicks, he turned to engage two more of the skeletons, starting to pant. After running all the way up here, did he have enough energy to handle this fight before drawing on things he preferred not to?

After smashing one of them into the dirt with his hooves, he backed up, moving to cover the unicorn's flank as he looked around. Unfortunately he noticed the ground beginning to writhe and bubble as if there was a miniature earthquake happening, in several spots. _Crap, crap, crap… this is going to be bad. Looks like I need to scorched earth this area because we've obviously stumbled onto cursed ground here… cursed burial ground. Hellsfury…._ He thought to himself, his tail lashing. He had already worn himself out a lot from the run up here and now this fight. He reared as some of the skeletons approached, lashing out with his hooves to force them back, hearing a squeal from behind him.

Dropping his front hooves, he bucked and felt his hind hooves slam into something boney, shattering it.

"Th-thanks…" He heard Trixie say, sounding rather shaken up. "But… there's still m-more coming.

"How many did you take down?" He asked, risking a glance back at her.

Trixie shrugged, closing her eyes to focus on something. "A dozen, maybe, mostly after you got here. Thing is… they mostly got back up." She said, her horn starting to glow as she made three skeletons rise up off the ground and fly off into the trees. Releasing the spell, her head dropped as she panted in exhaustion.

He grimaced, his ears going flat against his head. This was not turning out to be a good day at all. "There's no way we're going to beat all of them… and they've got reinforcements." He said, rearing up to crush one's skull and wincing as a second got in to bite his flank. Smashing the biter away from him, he stood, panting. "And if we don't beat them… there's no telling whether they'll stay here or not, even if we don't end up joining them."

"What are you saying?" Trixie asked nervously.

"I would say Final Strike, but I'm not ready to die yet and I doubt you are either." He replied, backing up so he was touching her. "So stay touching me because things are going to get stormy." Closing his eyes, he focused on the energy that flickered around him, grounding it before Reaching for the faint crackle of energy far above. _I hope I can do this without mucking up the weather too badly… but I don't think I'll be able to confine __**this**__ storm._ He could feel energy crackle faintly over his hide. There was little there to work with, all the wild energy normally present in a world's atmosphere seeming muted on this world, still he _had_ to do this.

He felt Trixie shift against his side uncomfortably as he gathered the power he needed slowly, dreg by dreg. "What do you mean 'Final Strike' and why is it going to get stormy?" She asked then yelped as thunder grumbled overhead.

Opening his eyes again, electricity sparking over his hide as his eyes glowed brightly in the gathering darkness he looked up as clouds gathered. When he had reached for the normal storm energy, he hadn't found anything but dregs, but now… now he could sense another undercurrent of energy, energy so similar to the sort he felt as a blanket around him all the time from the k'gostyn that had chosen him. Reaching for that energy instead he found what he was looking for and pulled hard.

* * *

><p>Trixie cringed, pressing herself against the strange Earth pony's side. Her last question hadn't been answered by the pony, but by the storm itself. It was incredible, and not a little terrifying to see one single Earth pony pull up a storm that would take groups of Pegasi working in concert for several hours in the space of a few minutes.<p>

She flinched as several of the skeletal ponies tried to lunge at the pair of them, only to be blown to pieces by a lightning bolt at least as thick at the base as she was long. Swallowing, she glanced over at her benefactor… her saviour. She was the Great and Powerful Trixie, and yet she could Feel the power coming from the storm raging around them, could feel how much power the earth pony had, just from where she was pressing herself against his side.

This was the second time in the last year or so that she had been terrified out of her mind, the first being when those stupid colts in Ponyville had brought an Ursa **Minor** to town, only for that damned Twilight Sparkle to soothe the retched creature and send it back to its cave after it had destroyed her caravan and most of her equipment, forcing her to flee.

She had wandered around for a while, trying to get herself back together and regain her previous talent, but the incident had kept bugging her every few nights… as had the sight of the purple unicorn pulling off a — if she were honest with herself — completely awesome combination spell.

Shifting slightly, Trixie risked a glance back at the stallion that had saved her from the skeletons, blinking as a rogue lightning bolt lit up his face to show a long scar along his muzzle. How many times had this stallion fought?

Glancing around, she let out an involuntary whimper as a lightning bolt slammed down on the ground next to where they were standing, close enough that she could hear it sizzle the air before the thunder rolled over them in a solid wave.

Why were there so many lightning bolts striking so close? Trixie wondered, cringing closer to the stallion. Was he _trying_ to destroy the ground around here? She frowned slightly, her mind latching on to the question to save herself from gibbering in complete terror. Hadn't he said something about undead sometimes guarding places because they were cursed? She shivered, her ears lying flat as she squeezed her eyes tight shut. Had she managed to find an ancient and cursed place where a lot of ponies had died or been buried?

Time seemed to lose meaning in the storm; the only constants were the flash and flicked of lightning, the sound of thunder and the sound of rain pouring from darkened skies. Eventually though, the storm seemed to lessen and she could feel rain on her back. That was… odd… the storm had been raging for a while and yet this was the first rain she had felt.

Drawing away from the stallion, she turned to look at him, seeing him standing there, head hanging in exhaustion. This stallion had just saved her life, the second time she had needed saving, yet now he looked so drained.

Moving up to his shoulder, she bumped her own against it. "Come on, I don't think there are any more of those… things around here and if we get too wet, we'll catch something." Trixie said, dropping her normal act. Her Great and Powerful Trixie persona was a part of her, had been for ages, and yet this stallion had shattered the illusions it brought easily. This time though, she wasn't going to run away, not when he had given his all to save her, the least she could do was offer him shelter.

She grunted when he leaned on her, not expecting the weight, but managed to brace herself. "I-I've got a cave this way." She said, starting to lead him towards her temporary home.

"Thanks… Trixie." He said, causing her to twitch her tail. She wasn't used to being called by her name anymore. That said if anypony had earned the right to, it was this one.

Moving along with him, she led him to her cave and helped him to the bed, letting him settle on it before collapsing next to him. "You still haven't told me your name, nor what you meant earlier." She said, shifting slightly.

He nodded slightly. "My name is Star-Dancer," He replied, shifting slightly and yawning. "As for a Final Strike… it means gathering up all the magic you can handle and releasing it in one blast." He lowered his head to his hooves. "It's normally fatal to the one doing it, but it gets rid of a lot of enemies."

She looked at him shocked, suddenly dizzy. "You… you would kill yourself to kill others?"

Star-Dancer shook his head. "No, I would kill myself to protect those that couldn't protect themselves… if there was no other way. I've lost more than a few friends defending people like you, who have ended up in troubles beyond their experience… though you did manage to handle yourself okay, as did that group that went after those Elements of Harmony a year ago."

Trixie shifted uncomfortably. "It's… not my first time facing something horrifying." She admitted. "A pair of colts from the town near here brought an Ursa Minor into town so I could defeat it… but I couldn't, my tricks had no effect on it an-and this purple unicorn put it to sleep and sent it back into this forest." She hadn't realised there were tears running down her muzzle until Star-Dancer nuzzled her gently.

"And now you think you have to prove yourself to get your pride back?" He asked gently.

Trixie nodded tiredly. "Yes… When I was the Great and Powerful Trixie, I was someone at least somewhat important. I could get crowds that would beg for an encore. Now I'm nopony."

She felt his snort on her neck. "Kid, you just faced down something that nobody on your world has seen before. If you don't brag too much, that's a tale in itself." He pointed out, "The first pony to have faced a bunch of skeletons on cursed ground and lived to tell the tale."

"Only because you caused that storm… and what do you mean first pony? Aren't you a pony as well?" Trixie asked, shifting to look at him.

Star-Dancer shook his head and looked down at her. "I'm half-horse, half-dragon." He said, rolling slightly onto his side. "My dam was a dragon, born a horse because her parents were acting as horses to help a young boy and his family; my sire was a normal horse from another herd. I don't think Evenstar ever told him what she and her sire and dam were, but I was the result of their union. When I was old enough, I went to look for my destiny, not finding it with the herd I grew up among. Eventually it led me to my grandsire and granddam, then, over the years to here."

That was… different. Of course, this was an earth pony that had caused a storm that would take teams of Pegasi hours to gather in quite a hurry and one that knew about curses and skeletons and probably other things. Still, Trixie wasn't sure whether she believed him. Horse, fine, that she could understand, but dragon? No dragon would want to mate with a pony and sure as Celestia raised the sun, no dragon would take on pony form to help another. She looked up at him, blinking a little at the sight of his eyes. They were still glowing in the dull light in her cave and she could see the slitted pupils. Maybe he was telling the truth.

She glanced out of the entrance to the cave, watching the storm rage on for several minutes before glancing back to find that he was asleep. "Huh, that must have been some spell to pull all this down _and_ make all those lightning bolts hit so close to us without hitting us." Trixie muttered, getting up and getting one of the rough blankets she had managed to get hold of. Draping it over Star-Dancer, she settled herself against him — no reason why she shouldn't get some comfort tonight — she sighed, closing her eyes again.

* * *

><p>"Man, this storm has been going for <em>hours<em>, when's it going to go away?" Rainbow Dash asked, twitching her tail as she looked despondently out at the rain hammering down over Ponyville. "We can't even take the weather team out to dissipate it because it's coming down so hard."

"I think it'll end overnight." Twilight replied, looking up from where she was lounging on her bed, a book spread in front of her. "It's stopped hammering lightning down on Everfree Forest so I think it's gone back to being a natural storm."

Rainbow Dash looked over at her friend. "So this wasn't a natural storm?" She asked, before kicking herself mentally, of _course_ it wasn't a natural storm, it hadn't been brought by a Pegasus weather team and it had come up far too quickly, usually there was some sort of build-up.

Twilight shook her head, closing her book and putting it aside. "Hardly, though I don't think it was intended to cause problems for us either." She said, rolling so she sat on her haunches. "Most of the lightning that hit the ground did so in the Everfree Forest, and most of that was around the same area given how long it took the thunder to reach here after the lightning struck."

"You timed it?" Rainbow Dash asked, arching an eyebrow at her friend.

Twilight nodded slightly. "Since I was a filly, I used to love storms, at least when I wasn't out in them. There's just something about them that draws me… and the rainbows afterwards are beautiful."

"Yeah… they are," Dash said, shifting slightly. "But they're not fun to fly in." She shifted a little more, looking over at Twilight. "Twi… you know we're doing this thing for Princess Celestia, looking out for this horse and such?"

"Yes, Dash?"

Dash flicked her tail, looking over at her friend. "Do you think it sounds less like a warning, more like a 'I want to find this horse for my sister' type thing?" She frowned, looking at her hooves. "I mean like Rarity is looking for this unicorn stallion that's supposed to be Princess Celestia's nephew."

Twilight frowned, shifting slightly. "You mean Prince Aston… I guess it does sound a bit like that, thinking back to her letter to me." She said, before jumping as lightning lashed across the sky right overhead, followed by the loudest rumble of thunder she had heard today. "Horsefeathers, that one was close, wasn't it, Dash?" She asked, looking over at the other bed, only to see no Dash on it, "Dash?" She called again, only to jump as a hoof touched her side.

Turning slightly, she looked over to see Dash, shivering on the side of her bed, her wings wrapped around her. "I… hate storms…." Dash mumbled, shivering.

Twilight arched an eyebrow at her friend, but didn't say anything immediately, instead shifting up a little in her bed and holding the covers up so Dash could climb in next to her. "Scared of this storm, Dash?" She asked softly, wrapping her forelegs around the Pegasus.

Dash nodded slightly, shivering despite the warmth of Twilight's body against her. "Yeah… normally it's not bad, when I'm setting it up, but this one…." She shrugged, wincing at another loud crash, "Mostly because I don't have thunder right overhead.

Nodding, Twilight nosed her friend's cheek. "Yeah, this one is a bit worse than the ones you've helped make, probably because it's so wild." She shifted slightly, rubbing between Dash's wings until the Pegasus started to relax. "You know… I think the reason this one is different is because that horse called it, probably to use against something in the Everfree Forest the same way Trixie created those storm clouds she zapped you with and the one she used on that Ursa Minor."

"Those were nothing compared to this though, Twi." Dash pointed out, pulling back a bit from her friend. "And… please don't tell the others about tonight." She smiled slightly, resting her head against Twilight's shoulder. "I don't think they'll react too well to this happening, even given the circumstances."

"I won't, though I'm a bit surprised you're letting _me_ see this side of you." Twilight commented, shifting to get herself more comfortable and grimacing as she felt the edge of the bed under her flank. "Though I think we should use the other bed, and it's just for sleeping, alright? I don't really want to jump into anything else with all four hooves just yet."

Dash nodded, pulling away from Twilight long enough for the pair of them to move over to the guest bed Twilight had set up for her. Settling into it next to her friend, she winced at another thunderbolt overhead, curling into Twilight. At least the bookworm was willing to let her sleep with her given the storm. "I… I've never been caught with just one friend during a storm either. Even when I did get caught at Sweet Apple Acres, it was all of the Apple family that were in residence at the time and I could hardly try curling up with any of them… though I think I heard Apple Bloom going to sleep with Big Mac at one point." She whispered, closing her eyes against the night. "You know… I'm a bit worried about Fluttershy tonight," Dash murmured. "She's usually alone out there and this storm blew up out of nowhere and… mmph." She was cut off by Twilight putting a hoof over her mouth.

"I know, Dash, but we can't really do much tonight. We'll check on Fluttershy tomorrow, make sure she's okay." Twilight said, settling herself. "For now though, we need to sleep, you especially." She said. "Goodnight, Dash."

Dash nodded. "Good night, Twilight." She responded, letting the purple unicorn soothe her fears."

* * *

><p>Feeling her bedmate's jump at a rumble of thunder overhead, Applejack opened her eyes blearily. "Fluttershy, it's just thunder, Sugar-cube, it ain' gonna hurt us." She mumbled, focusing on the pale yellow Pegasus sharing her bed.<p>

"I know, AJ, but… do you think everypony's alright?" Fluttershy asked softly. She felt a foreleg snake across her back and sighed, letting Applejack pull her gently down.

"Ah'm sure they're fine, Sugar-cube." Applejack replied, nosing Fluttershy gently. "The animals were put to bed afore ya came here, an' yer place isn't likely to attract lightning." She shrugged slightly. "Yeah, some are probably scared, but they're not alone, and neither are ye." She pointed out.

Nodding slightly, Fluttershy leaned against her friend in the darkness. "I'm glad you convinced me to come over tonight, AJ." She said quietly. They had been friends for months now, but this was the first time she had been to a sleep over at Applejack's farm without anypony else. It was strange, but it did feel nice being able to lean against the strong body of the dependable Earth pony, especially with the storm raging around outside.

Nosing Fluttershy again, Applejack looked up at the window for a moment before closing her eyes. "Get some sleep, Sugar-cube, mornin' will come all too soon fer both of us." She said rubbing her hoof carefully along Fluttershy's back. All that said, she wanted morning to come, preferably without the storm around, so she could check on the orchard and find out just what the hay Rainbow Dash's weather team had been doing when the storm appeared and whether they could have done anything about it.

* * *

><p>She was back in one of those dreams again; she knew it as soon as she looked around. Flicking her tail, she frowned at the familiar alien trees. Maybe this time she would finally learn just who the horse her dreams had been about was and why he was in Equestria. She hadn't told her beloved sister that the dreams had kept up, and she hoped she wouldn't have to, given how much of this horse's life seemed to be conflict with things that made Nightmare Moon look like a schoolyard bully.<p>

Looking around, Luna finally spotted the spotted black horse she had been having dreams about on and off since she had been turned back into her true self. Making her way over to him, she carefully leaned against the tree he was standing near. She had learned that sometimes these dream objects could support her, other times they couldn't, or wouldn't, either way it tended to end up with her landing with a thump that left her dazed for a while even if it didn't actually hurt.

"Who are you?" She asked the black horse, not expecting an answer to the question. Despite her abilities, these dreams were something she just could not control at all.

"Star-Dancer, we need to talk." A voice said from somewhere. Looking around, Luna spotted a gold scaled dragon, one that walked on two legs approaching the horse she was watching.

She glanced at Star-Dancer as he looked up at the dragon, "Yes, grandsire?" He asked, causing Luna to draw in a breath in shock. There was no way that these two beings could be related… and yet… why did she feel that the term 'grandsire' was meant literally?

The dragon made it to where Star-Dancer was standing, his tail flicking. "I saw your request to be put back on active assignment. Are you sure you're ready for this, kid?" He asked, reaching out to stroke Star-Dancer's neck. "It's only been a couple of months since you were involved in that shit storm over on M'retren V, where half your group was killed."

Star-Dancer nodded as Luna winced. "I know, grandsire, but I can't stay here forever. The pain isn't going to fade if all I do is sit around and dwell on my memories." He nosed the dragon gently. "I know you and granddam are worried, but this is something I need to work out rather than wallow in."

The dragon nodded slightly. "Alright, as long as you're sure, Star." He said, flicking his tail. "We've got one that should give you a chance to work on things without being in the thick of too much trouble. There's a planet, probably not too different to Harrenthias, where what looks like ponies are the dominant species… or one of them anyway. We're picking up readings that suggest something will be happening in the pony held lands, which is where you're going. We're going to drop you and a few others across the planet to investigate things, though you're probably going to be acting mostly alone. Think you're up for it."

Luna gasped, her tail twitching. These… beings had known of Equestria before she had managed to get out of the moon? She had known that Star-Dancer moved around a lot in some sort of vehicle that could move between the stars, she had seen him staring out the window at those stars, ones she didn't recognise, one a few occasions, but this was the first time she had seen anything to suggest how he had come to Equestria.

"I can handle it, grandsire." Star-Dancer said, shifting slightly. "Besides, if I'm amongst something that's not related to the Dforgrym, maybe I'll be able to let Yeren and Dasher rest rather than having people reminding me of them by saying they're sorry about it all the time." He said, closing his eyes. Luna shifted slightly, noticing tears trickling down his cheek. Who were those two that he had named? Friends at least given the tears, maybe more than that.

"I know Star, but even if you do give it time to let them rest quiet in their graves, there will be times in the darkest nights or brightest days when you suddenly find yourself missing them." The dragon said gently, rubbing Star-Dancer's neck. "It's been centuries and I still wake up sometimes wondering whether I could have done something different to save someone I cared for, even when I know I did everything I could." He flicked his tail, shifting to look across the landscape surrounding the pair of them. "I've been lucky not to lose V'ren, but I've buried far too many of my children and grandchildren. It says something when your grandson's mate and child die before you do."

Star-Dancer nodded sadly, his tail flicking.

Luna closed her eyes, squeezing them shut for a moment before opening them and moving towards Star-Dancer. "I am sooo sorry, Star-Dancer. I knew you were something special and you had come to Equestria for some reason, but I never thought you would have lost your mate, much less your colt or filly." She whispered, hooking her head over the dream Star-Dancer's neck.

* * *

><p>Luna woke up to find her face wet with tears. That dream had been the saddest of the ones she had had about Star-Dancer. Now she actually knew the stallion's name, and while that gave her some hope, the fact that she knew he had come to Equestria in part so that he didn't have to continue hearing about his mate and child's death tore at her heart.<p>

Getting out of her bed, she moved to the window, looking out over stormy skies… wait, Ponyville wasn't supposed to be stormy at the moment; it was supposed to be clear. Was it Star-Dancer? If it was, why was he doing it? From everything she had seen in the dreams, she couldn't see him doing something like this to hurt another innocent, especially not a foal so… to save someone, as he had tried and failed to save his mate?

Luna flicked her tail. It wasn't fair, she had been left alone so long that she had turned evil, but out there, somewhere near Ponyville right now was the literal stallion of her dreams… except he had lost two ponies that meant the world to him not that long before she had returned. She closed her eyes as she felt tears sting them. There had to be something she could do.

Looking out at the storm again, she frowned. "What can I do to help you?" She whispered. Her own heart had been hurt badly; maybe it was pain calling to pain, loneliness to loneliness that drew her to dream of Star-Dancer. Flicking her tail, she watched the storm rage. There was no way short of magic that a storm that big could just appear where it wasn't supposed to… wait a moment, magic. Of course, that was what she was going to need.

Dancing a little in place, Luna flicked her tail as she thought about what she was going to do. She wanted… needed to find Star-Dancer, to talk to him at least, but she couldn't go into Ponyville as Princess Luna of Canterlot without the entire town either running from her or bowing and scraping and she didn't want either of those. Maybe she could use her magic to form a disguise though, after all, he had to have used something to avoid being spotted for this long so she should be able to find something.

It was too late to do anything right now, but in the morning she needed to talk to her sister again. If she was going to hunt for the stallion, and hopefully make some friends along the way, she wanted to avoid making her sister worry about things. She also needed someone to talk to in Ponyville to relay things to Celestia… meaning she probably needed to contact Twilight, or at least that little dragon friend of hers, Spike.

Pushing away from the window, Luna moved back to her bed, settling into it and closing her eyes as she ran over several plans in her mind, trying to figure out what she wanted to do in the morning.


	3. Chapter 3

Wow this fic has been getting a lot of views compared to the others. Wolf Knight's been up way longer in the Eldre Scrolls area and not got anywhere near as many views, and Herald of the Knights didn't explode on views like this I don't think.

In any case, Star-Dancer and the Dforgrym are my folks, the others belond to Hasbro/Lauren Faust. I am using an idea from one of the other fics around, but hopefully it'll work out different enough to hold its own.

* * *

><p>Twitching her tail as she stood in the library, Luna frowned as she looked through books on disguises, particularly magical ones. "No, no, no… darn it, all these disguises are just illusions, as soon as anyone touches me or casts a spell on me they'll burst like balloons."<p>

Using her magic to put the books back in their places, she sighed, moving along the shelves until another book caught her eye, "Transmogrifications and Transformations? Well it sounds like it might be worth a look." Luna murmured, using her magic to pull the book off the shelf.

Flicking through the book, she blinked and grinned to herself when she spotted one particularly spell. "Earth Pony Transformation," She read, flicking her tail. "Ah ha… this looks more like it." Luna frowned, scanning the page containing the spell. "Better read the whole book first… this spell looks complicated and it's only supposed to be unicorns or pegasi being turned, not alicorns… still, it looks like it'll last and keep me from being detected accidentally."

Closing the book and carrying it with her, she got it checked out by the resident librarian before taking it back to the palace proper.

Returning to her room, Luna settled on her bed, pulling the book out and starting to read through it. If she was going to do this, she wanted to make sure she knew what was involved. The last time she had gone off half-cocked had ended with her banishment to her moon for a millennium, something she didn't want a repeat performance of.

Still… this time it was for another rather than for herself, though she hoped to get at least something out of it.

Reading through the introduction to the book, Luna frowned as she noticed something in the introduction. "Caster beware, all the spells within the following pages have the effect of physically changing the target of the spell into the being mentioned in the spell. Spending more than two months at a time under the influence of any these spells will result in the target starting to lose their sense of what they were and spending over a year will end with the subject being unable to return to their original form." She read aloud. "Oh horse-feathers, that'll make things difficult."

If the information she was reading was correct, then she would have to return to her normal form every couple of months… probably for a couple of months to remind herself what her power felt like. Still, two months ought to be enough time to at least find out where Star-Dancer was so she could find him as Luna. She flicked her tail. She needed to talk to Celestia about this… if she didn't, they might end up with an endless day and that would probably be as bad as an endless night. She would also need Twilight's help at least, if for no other reason than to keep in touch with her sister.

As if the thought had summoned her, she heard Celestia's voice from outside her door. "Are you okay in there, Luna? You missed lunch time."

"I'm fine, sis… I just got caught up in something." Luna replied, getting off her bed and moving to answer the door. "And actually, it's something I need to talk to you about anyway."

"Oh?" Celestia asked, moving into her sister's room, "So what's this thing you need to talk to me about?" She asked, finding herself somewhere to sit.

Luna sat on her bed, shifting slightly. "I… I think I need to go back to Ponyville, but not as Luna, princess or not." She said finally. "You remember that dream that woke me up months ago?" She asked, getting a nod from her sister. "Well, I've been having more of them and… I think Star-Dancer needs someone around that knows what he's been through from their own experience, someone that has seen the sort of things he fights against."

Celestia arched and eyebrow at her sister. "And you think you're the one to do it?" She asked.

Luna nodded. "Why else would I keep having dreams about him?" She asked. "Anyway, I think he's back near Ponyville now, given after the dream last night, I woke up and saw a storm over it, one that wasn't scheduled…. I think I can find him and maybe… maybe we can heal each other's hurts." She was sure that Star-Dancer was holding his pain inside, holding it against himself that he had lost so many and she knew what lay down that route. Maybe he wouldn't get that far given something had to be keeping a check on him but still…. "I also want to make some friends of my own, and everyone around here either treats me badly, which, I'll admit I probably deserve after what I've done, or they treat me distantly because I'm your sister."

Frowning at her sister, Celestia shifted slightly in her seat. It was obvious to Luna that her sister could tell something was up. "Do you have any sort of plans for this?" Celestia asked eventually.

Luna shifted, picking up the book she had with her magic and hovering it over to her sister. "I found this in the library, I was thinking about turning Earth pony for a couple of months at a time and living in Ponyville." She frowned, watching her sister read through the book. "I know the spell is complex and it says at the beginning that people lose what they were the longer they stay as something new, so I don't want to push things much."

"You should use a unicorn transformation, or a Pegasus one." Celestia said finally, having been reading through the book. "It'll probably be easier to only lock away one part of yourself that you use than all of it, and if you remain a unicorn, it's possible that you'll still have enough magic that we can still see your beautiful nights."

Luna looked up at her older sister. "You mean you're okay with me doing this?"

Celestia flicked her tail. "I don't like it, but I'm not going to stop you from doing it, as long as you do it safely and keep in touch."

Luna nodded. "I had intended on getting in touch with your student, Twilight, and asking her to send letters back to you, or go through the mailponies in Ponyville." She confirmed. At least her sister wasn't going to stop her from doing this, from following her heart in a good direction.

Celestia nodded. "Then get some sleep and take a few days to sort yourself out for this quest, sister." She said, getting up to nose Luna gently. "I don't want to lose you again, but I'd like to see you make some friends at least. You deserve to have somepony that appreciates what you do for everypony and calls you their friend."

* * *

><p>Standing in the middle of Ponyville, Twilight looked around, trying to assess the damage that had been done to the town. Fortunately, it looked like there was little enough apart from rain water still draining from the streets. Whatever that horse had been aiming at doing, it seemed that it had had nothing to do with Ponyville, something which no doubt all the citizens could be grateful.<p>

"Rainbow Dash, what in tarnation were the weather team doin' last night? That storm came outta nowhere." Applejack's voice called from somewhere down the road, the orange earth pony obviously having spotted Twilight's flying escort.

Turning, Twilight watched as Applejack and Fluttershy came into view, Big Mac and Apple Bloom — Applejack's big brother and little sister respectively — coming along with them.

"It wasn't her fault, or theirs, Applejack." Twilight said, butting in before Dash could retort. "I think it was the horse the Princesses asked us to look for since it started not long after she came to find me because she saw a lightning trail on the ground and I _know_ no Earth pony leaves a trail like that when they're running."

She looked over as she heard something then yelped as Pinkie Pie appeared out of a window. "Damnit Pinkie, would you please not sneak up on a pony." Twilight half growled.

"Oh you silly—" Pinkie started, only to get a hoof over her mouth.

"Darling, please, I believe Twilight was about to tell us something." Rarity said, putting her hoof down when Pinkie nodded. "Thank you, go on Twilight."

Twilight flicked her tail. "Well… I was doing some research yesterday into horses yesterday; apparently they're a lot like earth ponies, except that they normally don't have magic of their own." She explained briefly, knowing her friends wouldn't appreciate long complex discourses on things. "They're also a bit bigger and more powerful in themselves without magic because of it. The one the Princesses are looking for though… from what Princess Celestia said it can control the weather. I think that's why we had the storm last night, though I think it was more focused on something it encountered in the Everfree Forest than anything, it just spread more than he thought most likely."

"What do you think he found?" Fluttershy asked softly.

Dropping down to land on the ground, Dash shrugged. "With the Everfree Forest it could be a number of things. Ursa, manticore, Stephen… actually, no, Stephen is a nice guy, he wouldn't be the cause of the storm, it'd be something nasty, mean and probably not in the mood for company."

"Whate'er he found, he done drowned Ponyville last night." Applejack commented, ignoring a "Eyup," from her big brother. "Half of Sweet Apple Acres was still mud this morning."

"It's possible that he ran all the way from Appaloosa, on his own four hooves and going faster than a sonic rainboom." Dash put in, turning to look at Applejack. "If it was him that caused the storm, I'm surprised he managed to keep it as controlled as he did." She said, firmly pushing the fact that some of those thunderbolts last night had scared _her_ into sharing a bed with Twilight.

Stepping between her friends, Twilight looked between them. "Either way and before you two start competing again, we should check for any damage and see whether anyone saw anything, then get a letter to Princess… Luna." She pointed out, changing her mind as to which of the royal sisters should receive the letter at the last moment. "Apple Bloom, can you check with your friends and teacher?" She asked, getting a nod from the young filly.

"Big Mac, Fluttershy an' me will check on the farmers and animals, since I did tell her we'd check today last night." Applejack said.

"Eyup," Big Mac said, keeping his expression blank. Twilight had to wonder what went on in his head, since she knew he was educated, and better than Applejack at mathematics, but he rarely said anything.

"Oh, oh, oh… I'll see what everyone's saying at Sugarcube Corner." Pinkie Pie said, bouncing in place.

Twilight nodded and looked over at Rainbow Dash. "Weather team?" She asked, getting a nod from the blue Pegasus. "If you're going to them, see if you can get a group and do a fly over of the Forest where it's safe to fly, see if you can spot anything." She said before looking at Rarity.

Nodding, Dash raised a hoof. "Gotcha," She replied before taking off quickly to get to work.

"Looks like it's the two of us to check on everyone else then, Rarity," Twilight said to the white unicorn.

Rarity nodded as the group split up.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Firefly!" Dash called, catching up with a light pink Pegasus pony bearing a double lightning bolt cutie mark. "How's the team holding up after that storm yesterday?" She asked, moving to hover near the other pony.<p>

"Hi Dash," Firefly responded, looking over at her team mate. "We're fine, though Medley was a little upset because I tried to get ahead of the storm as it blew up yesterday." She answered, frowning slightly at her companion's tendency to always want to play things safe. "Unfortunately I couldn't make it; otherwise I would have kicked it back to the Everfree Forest."

Dash shifted slightly in the air and snorted, remembering what Twilight had said the previous night. "I doubt even _I_ could have beaten that storm, Firefly. It blew up out of the Everfree Forest between me finding Twilight to ask her about something and her giving me an answer… and Twilight doesn't always give long answers like Pinkie Pie."

"Rainbow Dash, there you are." Another pony's voice came from above the two Pegasi. "Where were you last night, sleeping while a storm blew up on us?"

Sharing a look, the two Pegasi rolled their eyes and looked up to see a light green Pegasus flying down to them. "Medley, I might've known it'd be you up there if you weren't behind me." Firefly commented dryly, well used to her partner's actions.

"Actually no, I was talking to Twilight," Dash replied, shifting slightly in the air. "And morning, Medley, Firefly kick you out of bed again?" She asked, ignoring the snort from Firefly.

Medley shook her head. "No she didn't and why were you talking to Twilight when a storm was brewing?"

Dash was silent for several minutes, turning to watch the other Pegasi around clearing the left over clouds with a critical eye as she thought about how to answer that one. "The storm wasn't brewing when I went to see Twilight, it started while I was in the library."

Firefly cocked her head. "Why were you in the library? You're not usually the one to go there unless someone makes you." She said, Medley nodding as she hovered beside her.

"What, I'm not allowed to visit my friends?" Dash asked, somewhat surprised by the other pair's questions. They didn't normally poke into her business like this. Seeing neither of the other ponies was likely to move, she twitched her tail. "… Well… there was one reason I was in there. Princess Celestia asked my friends and I to look out for anyone strange around here because Princess Luna was worried about something… I saw something strange alright." She frowned, remembering the grounded lightning. "In fact… did either of you see anything before the storm showed up that was unusual?"

"Now that you mention it…" Medley started, "Firefly and I did see something last night."

Firefly nodded, twitching her tail. "We saw what looked like a gathering of ponies not too far into the Everfree Forest… it was odd because most of the ponies looked like they could have done with meeting Bonbon. I don't remember much, but I do know there was a big black one and a smaller blue, but I couldn't see what colours the others were."

"Yeah," Medley butted in. "It looked like they were having some sort of dance or something with the skinny ponies… though it was a very strange dance." She admitted.

Dash frowned, she was pretty sure that they horse had blitzed under her in a lightning bolt and there weren't any black ponies that she knew of living around here… plus the Princess' letter suggested dark hide. She wasn't sure about the blue, that could have been a number of ponies, but the black one… and the fact the storm had started not long afterwards. "I think… you two saw the pony Princess Celestia was interested in along with the reason for the storm." She said finally. "And I've got to tell Twilight."

She turned to fly off to find Twilight, only to feel a sharp tug on her backside. Turning, she huffed out a sigh, seeing Firefly had darted forwards and grabbed her tail in her mouth. "What is it about everypony grabbing my tail?" Dash asked exasperatedly, crossing her forelegs.

"Because that's the only part of you we _can_ grab." Medley pointed out as Firefly spat out the offending tail. "Now, you've got a job to do, Rainbow Dash. We might be older than you, but you're the team leader since Firefly stepped down so get leading." She pointed an imperious hoof at the rest of the weather team, causing Rainbow Dash to huff out a sigh and fly off in their direction.

Firefly looked over at her partner as Dash flew to join the rest of the group, "Ever the power behind the throne, hey, Medley?" She asked with a grin. "I've never understood why you don't like leading from the front given how good at leading you are."

Medley rolled her eyes. "Leading from the front is dangerous Firefly." She pointed out.

Firefly laughed, turning to join the rest of the weather team. "Danger is my life, Medley." She replied with a grin. It was a running joke between the two of them that whenever Medley said something was dangerous, Firefly would respond that danger was her life.

* * *

><p>"There doesn't seem to be much damage around here, even if the storm was completely unexpected." Twilight commented to Rarity as the two unicorns made their way through the town.<p>

Rarity nodded, looking around. "It's rather surprising considering that awful storm… why Sweetie Bell spent most of the night shivering against my flank. I even had to take her into the school this morning she was that scared." She said, shifting slightly at the memory of the long night she had spent comforting her sister.

Twilight nodded. "I can imagine, Spike wasn't here last night, but often during storms he curls up with me." She grinned at Rarity. "I guess most of us are a little afraid of being in a storm, especially the younger ones of us."

Rarity started to reply, only to cut herself off before she said anything, hearing music in the distance. Her ears perking up, she looked around until she found the source, a mint green unicorn pony lying on a bench with a lyre in front of her, plucking the strings with her magic.

Nudging Twilight, she nodded to the pony. "Shall we see what Lyra's doing out here alone?" She asked, before looking around, "Especially since I don't see Bonbon around anywhere."

Twilight nodded, trotting over to the lyre-playing unicorn. "Hi Lyra, how are you today?" She asked.

Lyra looked up from her playing, letting the notes fade away. "Hey Twilight, not too bad, except… I'm trying to avoid Bonbon for a while."

The other two unicorns shared a look, "Why are you trying to avoid Bonbon, darling?" Rarity asked, "She isn't on another one of those 'I must feed everyone sweets until they pop' kicks again, is she?"

Lyra nodded, shifting into a more comfortable position on the bench. "Yeah… I think the storm last night worried her, and you know what she's like when she's worried, Rarity. If she's not eating sweets herself, she's trying to get everyone around her to eat them, claiming they need a bit more meat on their bones." She huffed out a sigh. "I love her, but when she's like this, I've found it's just easier to stay away for a while."

"So you came here to get away and relax with your lyre?" Twilight asked, getting a nod from Lyra. "You must get around, using your skills to entertain everypony, have you seen anything… odd around Ponyville the last few months? I don't mean the big things like Nightmare Moon, Trixie and such, I mean smaller ones."

Lyra frowned, using her magic to pluck the strings of the lyre idly. "I have seen a few odd things." She admitted. "When Nightmare Moon showed up, most everyone with sense was scared of her, but there was this one stallion standing in the corner who just seemed bored with the whole display, as if he'd seen it too often before… just before she took off, I saw him flick his mane at her."

"Anything else, darling?" Rarity asked.

"Well…" Lyra started, shifting uncomfortably. "I saw him again later, I didn't say anything because I thought the stress from being up all night and having Nightmare Moon appear in front of me was making me see things, but I'm sure I saw the stallion return to the town hall after everyone had left, because I'd forgotten my lyre in the rush. I don't think he saw me, because he went inside and turned into a dragon… one much bigger than Spike, but not as big as I've heard that red one was."

Twilight frowned at the new information. If the horse was a dragon as well… that could explain how he had pulled down the storm with no warning at all and kept enough control of it to focus most of its damage in one area. She blinked as Rarity nudged her side. "Something wrong, Rarity?" She asked, blinking.

"You were staring off into space, Twilight, a bit for your thoughts."

Shaking her head, Twilight grinned apologetically. "Sorry, Rarity, it's just what Lyra said about that horse turning into a dragon… I was wondering what else he could do, since you heard what Spike read in the letter from Princess Celestia."

Rarity nodded, "I remember, Twilight." She responded. "The horse was supposed to have power enough to take control of Nightmare Moon's lightning."

Nodding, Twilight shifted slightly, twitching her tail out of the way. "Well if he was a dragon as well, it would explain why the books I found on horses said nothing about them having abilities anywhere near those of us ponies yet somepony called up a doozy of a storm last night."

Lyra blinked, looking between the pair. "Wait… you two are telling me that there's a dragon-pony out there somewhere that not only can take control of Nightmare Moon's magic, but can also summon storms out of the air himself… and you… you believe what I said?" She asked, looking a bit dizzy with shock.

Twilight and Rarity shared a look before nodding.

* * *

><p>Swooping down into the clearing with Medley and Rainbow Dash, Firefly looked around at the charred and blasted ground. "Well, this is the place we saw the dance, but it sure doesn't look like a dance took place here." She said, scuffing the ground with a hoof.<p>

"I don't think it was a dance that was happening here, Firefly." Dash said, moving to look around the clearing. "Twilight said that she thought most of the early part of the storm, the lightning was striking somewhere in the Everfree Forest, this looks like it might be the right place… I just don't know wh—." She was cut off by the sound of snapping bone and a yelp from Medley. "Medley, are you okay?" She asked, whipping around to see the green Pegasus looking down at something in obvious shock.

Making her own way over to her partner, Firefly nudged Medley with her nose, "Medley?" She asked.

Looking up, her eyes slightly wild, Medley looked between Firefly and Rainbow Dash. "G-girls… look at what's around my hooves and tell me I'm just having a nightmare, please."

Lowering herself to her front knees, Firefly examined the area around Medley's hooves and hissed in a breath. "Medley… back up, carefully." She ordered, twitching her tail as her friend did so, a shiver running along her hide. Shifting, she used her wing to carefully brush away some of the muck and loose dirt from the thing that Medley had stepped on and sucked in a breath as she revealed a pony skeleton, a malevolent red glow coming from its eye sockets. Getting back to her hooves, Firefly took a couple of steps back, wincing as her left hind hoof came down on something that snapped. "Girls… I think we just found out why those two ponies were dancing with ponies we didn't recognise last night." She said slowly, swallowing hard.

"What do you mean, Firefly?" Rainbow Dash asked, coming up to where the other Pegasi were standing. When Firefly pointed down with her hoof, she looked down and jumped back. Swallowing audibly, her ears flat against her head, Dash made her way forwards again, nudging the skull with a hoof and blinking as it disconnected from the rest, the red light fading from the eye sockets as it rolled a little. "W-well… Twilight thought it had to be something _bad_ for him to summon a storm like that… I guess m-moving s-skeletons counts."

"But… so close to Ponyville?" Medley asked, twitching her tail as she moved forwards again, carefully placing her hooves so she didn't step on anything else. "How could something like this happen this close to Ponyville?"

Firefly frowned, looking around the scarred clearing. "Ponyville might not have been the first settlement near the edge of the Everfree Forest, and we all know how unnatural this place is." She pointed out. "Maybe these ponies are from a previous attempt that got swallowed up by the forest…."

Frowning, Dash carefully picked up the skull she had knocked loose before looking down at the skeleton, noticing the broken ribs and leg. "Maybe, Firefly… but you saw these things moving last night, and I know I saw the eye sockets glowing." She pointed out, showing the skull before pointing at the ribs. "And that looks like something kicked this pony, long after it died. I don't know of anything, even in the Everfree Forest, that would cause something dead long enough to turn into a skeleton to get up and walk again, much less fight."

Firefly nodded, looking around before grimacing, seeing three skeletal ponies emerging from the trees. "I agree, especially since there's three of them right there." She said, pointing at the skeletons. "Pegasi to the air, let's get out of here." She called, leaping into the sky, swiftly followed by Dash and Medley.

"Whatever happened to 'danger is my life, Medley'?" Medley asked, catching up with her friend. "You were awfully quick to get out of there."

Firefly glanced over at her friend as Dash dropped into a formation off her other side. "There's danger, Medley, then there's insanity… I don't think I could face one walking skeleton, much less three."

"In this case… I agree with Firefly," Dash put in. "Feats of dare-doing are my specialty, but fighting with things that are already long dead?" She gave a snort and shivered. "Thanks, but I'd rather leave that to the guy who trashed the rest of them." She shifted slightly in the air. "Besides, we _need_ to talk to Twi now, if there's something like that near Ponyville, Celestia alone knows what else might be out there that we should steer clear of."

Medley nodded, glancing back towards the clearing as the three of them flew back to Ponyville. "I hope she or the Princesses know something about this…, I've the bad feeling it'll be dangerous." She said, though there was none of her usual joking and Firefly merely nodded rather than responding in her usual way.

* * *

><p>"Looks like I missed three…" Star-Dancer murmured as he looked out at the grove. He had seen three Pegasi there, who had flown off, one of them holding one of the undead ponies' skulls when three still active skeletons had appeared in the clearing from the opposite side.<p>

"Those must have been the ones I threw out of the battle yesterday…." Trixie said, ducking her head under some low branches. She swallowed, remembering the battle the previous evening. That fight had almost been the death of her, for the second time this year. "I… I might be able to keep one pinned down with my magic, for a while."

Star-Dancer snorted in amusement. "It's only three of them, we can destroy them, then see what they were guarding without magic, since that'll just drain us quickly given what we did last time." He said, before glancing over at Trixie. "Besides, you said earlier that you wanted to know how to fight, if anything like this happened again, this'll give you something to fight that's not going to slaughter you and let me see what sort of form you've got."

He glanced over at Trixie, who swallowed, biting her lower lip. "Hey kid, I warned you earlier, if you're going to go from a stage trickster to a ranger, you're going to have to make a major adjustment in thinking, and that I wasn't going to be _that_ kind, I was taught how to fight things worse than those walking anatomy models, facing that sort of stuff means my training for combat was probably worse than whatever armed force you've seen has." He had warned her, when she had asked to become like him, that his training was no laughing matter and that she was probably going to go to bed crying, if she had the energy left for anything after a full day of the training.

Shaking his head, Star-Dancer looked around at the scene of the previous battle, watching as the skeletal ponies nudged a few of the ones that weren't moving. "Let's go," He said, moving out of the underbrush.

* * *

><p>Smashing the skeleton's skull under her hooves, Trixie sighed in relief. Finally that was the last of these things. Looking around, she flicked her ears, trying to hear any sound of anything else that might cause trouble.<p>

Twitching her hide, she winced as several bite marks ached along her flanks. "Damn skeletons… almost as bad as an Ursa." She muttered to herself before turning to see where Star-Dancer had gotten to.

She found him standing in the middle of a group of destroyed skeletons looking at something. Making her way over, she peered at what he had found. "Welcome to Paradise… Paradise Estate ahead?" She queried, looking up at him. The script on the stone was ancient, but still legible enough to make out the words. "Why were all these skeletons guarding some old marker?"

"I've seen odder things be the thing that undead protect." Star-Dancer replied, twitching his tail. "Still… Paradise Estate, huh? I don't remember seeing any buildings in the forest when I came through last time, but it's big enough to hide a few secrets." He looked over at Trixie. "As for you, you definitely need some time building your strength, stamina and agility. Those few skeletons shouldn't have worn you out so badly." He said, causing her ears to flatten. "You also missed quite a few obvious kill shots. You survived though, that's always a good thing, but today will be the easiest day you're going to have for a while, so enjoy it while it lasts if you still intend on becoming a ranger after this."

Trixie grimaced at his words and sighed. "I thought I was fairly fit, after all I used to pull my caravan around from town to town." She looked up at him. "I still want to make something of myself though… I-I can't go back to being a show pony after what happened and if things like this are out here…."

Star-Dancer nodded. "Well, let's head back to your cave and get things set up, starting tomorrow you're going on a crash course for combat." He said, looking back at the tablet for a moment before heading off.

Frowning, Trixie moved to look at it as well, wondering what he had been looking for. Shrugging to herself after a moment, she followed him.


	4. Chapter 4

As before, Star-Dancer and the Dforgrym belong to me, the rest belong to Hasbro. The two songs are Chosen One by Mercedes Lack and The Hunt from A Wolf Rider's Reflections (ElfQuest) and as such belong to their creators.

* * *

><p>"Is this everypony?" Twilight asked, looking around at the expanded circle of ponies — and baby dragon — that had gathered in the barn of Sweet Apple Acres. She would have preferred to use her library, if for no other reason than because all her books were there, but given the number of ponies and the fact that the library was a mess — again — she had agreed to use the barn.<p>

Applejack nodded, leaning casually against one of the walls. "We sure are, Sugar-cube." She said, looking around at the group. "The question is why we're all here."

Twilight shifted slightly, nodding to Lyra, who was sitting near a cream coloured Earth pony. "Rarity and I met up with Lyra earlier and she gave us some interesting information on the horse we've been looking out for." She said before nodding to the green unicorn.

Lyra shifted uncomfortably as all eyes turned to her. "Well… you all remember when Nightmare Moon appeared instead of Celestia?" She asked, twitching her hide when the others nodded. "I saw a pony, bigger than Big Mac, back against the wall. I saw him taunt Nightmare Moon before leaving after you girls."

"Lyra?" The creamy Earth pony asked, looking confused, only to get a hoof touched to her lips.

"Not right now, please, Bonbon." Lyra said softly before turning to the others again. "When everypony left, I forgot my lyre, so I went back to get it later and saw him enter the mayor's house again and turn himself into a dragon, one that stood at least as tall on two legs as he had on four."

"Oh, oh, oh… did he fly away?" Pinkie Pie asked, bouncing in place.

Lyra shook her head. "He jumped up to where Nightmare Moon appeared, sniffed around a bit then went behind the curtains." She said, shifting uncomfortably. "I didn't stay to find out what he was looking for; I just found my lyre and galloped home." She said, leaning against Bonbon when the other mare slipped a foreleg around her shoulders.

"Huh… Never saw him when I was there." Dash commented before wincing, "Ow, Medley!" She complained, rubbing her head where the green Pegasus had swatted her with a hoof.

"We were all rather more interested in Nightmare Moon's appearance when she was there and as I remember you tried to chase her down." Rarity pointed out. "And none of the six of us went back since we followed Twilight to the library, then to the Everfree Forest to find the Elements of Harmony."

Firefly shifted slightly, nudging Dash. "Speaking of the Everfree Forest, Medley and I were flying over it last night before the storm hit and we spotted what looked like a meeting or dance between a blue pony, a black one and a load of really skinny ones, or at least that's what it looked like from the air." She said, getting a nod from Medley. "We went back there with Dash earlier and found the place blasted… along with the skinny 'dancers'."

"What were they? What were they?" Pinkie started, getting up. "Oh, oh, oh… let me guess, let me guess. Erm… mmph."

"Pinkie, enough, please." Dash grumbled, having put a hoof over the pink Earth pony's mouth. When she nodded, Dash removed the hoof before going back behind some barrels and carefully pulling out the skull she had taken earlier. Putting it in the centre of the group, she watched the reactions of shock and disgust. "This… came from one of those 'dancers', in fact we found it because Medley stepped on it and when we did, its eye sockets were glowing red."

Medley shifted slightly, looking around the group. "We also saw three active ones, whole skeletons of ponies, Celestia alone knows how long dead… but they were walking."

If it had been Dash alone saying it, Twilight would have suspected a prank, but Firefly and Medley were older and steadier than Dash, they didn't go in for pranks. "Well… I guess it confirms my theory that whatever the storm was called for had to be pretty bad…." She said her ears flattening as she looked at the skull.

"Are y'all sure this was what was 'dancing' around in tha' clearing?" Applejack asked, looking down at the skull. "'Cause this critter's got no flesh ta do anythin' with."

All three Pegasi nodded soberly. "This one was probably one that got kicked by that guy," Dash said, shifting slightly. "'Cause I don't think Medley's hoof did enough to shatter its ribs _and_ shoulder."

"Dash is right," Firefly put in. "And we saw three that were moving… they might still be there, or they might have been destroyed if that guy you're all talking about is still around."

"How do y'all know it was kicked, Dash?" Apple Bloom asked, sitting with her two friends.

Dash rolled her eyes before looking over at the trio of fillies. "The amount of times I've seen Big Mac and Applejack bucking apples, I ought to know what a kick can do. Whoever kicked this one… they did it hard, I don't think half the ribs were in their places on that side."

"I'm more interested in how there can be moving skeletons within an easy flight of Ponyville." Bonbon put in, shifting slightly as she rubbed Lyra's back. "Whether or not the storm last night destroyed most of them, how can such a thing occur in the first place?"

Twilight shrugged. "I honestly don't know, Bonbon." She replied, shifting slightly. "I mean, sure there are stories in books in the library with ghosts and skeletal ponies and such, but I've never seen anything related to how they would actually come about. I guess the Princess would have had those books locked away in a vault somewhere to keep them out of the hands of ponies that might be tempted by them." She continued with a shiver.

"In the tales… it's usually either some sort of unicorn that's gone rogue or it's something to do with how and where they died." Big Mac put in with a shrug. "This ain' a tale though, so I don' know how well it'd work fer real."

Applejack blinked, turning to her brother. "Ah didn' know you liked them sorta books, Big Mac." She said, getting a shrug from the older Earth pony.

"Maybe we should… um… get in touch with the Princess and… and ask her about this?" Fluttershy suggested, sticking close to the members of the Apple family and far away from the pony skull.

Rarity nodded, shifting slightly. "Fluttershy has a point there, dear."

"In a moment, Rarity, Fluttershy," Twilight replied before turning to Spike. "Spike, before you send a letter to Princess Celestia, do you know anything about dragon magic beyond the fire you use?" She asked.

Spike shifted uncomfortably. "Well… after the last time, I did do some research… I couldn't find anything on abilities beyond flying and flame or smoke breath though, not for dragons here. There were a couple of stories about dragons that could create fire or cold or use magic better than a unicorn, but those were really old, like five hundred years or more."

Twilight nodded. "Alright then, looks like something else I'll need to research. Take a note please, Spike, asking Princess Celestia if she knows of any older pony towns around here and what happened to them along with anything safe to tell us about… about necromancy I think it's called and dragons' abilities."

* * *

><p>A week had passed quietly, at least for Luna; her sister had ended up doing some running around because Twilight had found out why there had been a random storm show up over Ponyville. Packing the book on necromancy counters into her saddlebag, Luna frowned, necromancy sounded like something that would have intrigued her as Nightmare Moon, but as it was, it gave her the shivers.<p>

She wasn't going to keep the book though; it was going to Twilight once she got settled into Ponyville. Sighing, Luna gathered up the jewels and bits her sister had given her and packed them securely into her other saddlebag along with a wrapped lunch of apples, carrots and other staples.

"Let's see… spell book, necromancy counter spells, History of Ponyville and Everfree… I hope those last two are useful… food, money, gems, just in case… letter to Celestia written, anything else?" Luna asked herself, looking around her room before her eyes fell on a paper pad and a few pencils. "Oh, art supplies, those'll give me something to do… maybe I can sell a few pieces as well." Trotting over to them, she used her magic to collect them and packed them into her still open saddlebag.

Checking her room again, she used her magic to close the saddlebag and put them on before checking that her note to her sister was still in place on her sister's bed. Luna knew Celestia would want to come and see her off, but with everything that her big sister had to do, time was rather short for a send-off, so a note would have to do.

Making her way out of the castle, she nodded to the two Pegasus ponies that had been assigned to pulling carriages for her, both of whom were already harnessed to a single seat carriage. "Can you take me down to the outskirts of Ponyville and leave me there?" She asked them.

"Ma'am, we're supposed to stay with you to guard you whenever you leave the castle." One of the Pegasi responded, looking over at Luna. "Our job is to guard the Princesses, wherever they go."

"Well…" She hadn't counted on that from the guards, but then she didn't really know them that well. They looked very similar in terms of shape, size and colour. "I'm not going to go as a princess, so I'd rather you didn't stay too close if you're going to insist on guarding me." She flicked her tail. "I… I'm going on my own to find some people that will accept me as a friend first, rather than a Princess."

The two Pegasi shared a look before they unhitched themselves from the carriage, the one that had spoken walking up to Luna and nosing her flank. "We can't let you go off unguarded, Princess, it would be our jobs, not to mention our honour."

Luna twitched her hide uncomfortably for several moments. "Umm… I… guess I could take one of you with me, but you would have to agree to my conditions." She said eventually. "Firstly, this will be an extended trip, I'm planning on two months, and I can't promise any extra pay." She said, getting nods from both Pegasi. "Secondly, I'm going to be going as someone else… I have spells that'll let me change; they should be able to turn one of you into an Earth pony… I can't find anything about turning a Pegasus into a unicorn or changing one into another Pegasus. Thirdly, I can't have you with me all the time, since we can't show that I'm a princess, so no calling me Luna either, at least until the end of the first two months when we return."

"So what would we call you, Princess?" The first guard asked, sharing a look with his partner.

"Selece," Luna replied. "The last thing would be that only Twilight Sparkle and her dragon assistant, Spike, should know who we are until we're going to return to our own forms."

The guard nodded. "Very well, Princess, I will accompany you to Ponyville. Please allow me some time to gather some supplies."

Luna closed her eyes, offering up a soft thank you to whatever might have been watching over Equestria. "I will wait here then, though please hurry. I would like to get to Ponyville this afternoon if possible."

The guard nodded, trotting off to gather his things while his colleague remained with Luna.

* * *

><p>Collapsing on her bed, Trixie sighed, trying to stretch out and grimacing as her tired muscles ached in protest. Star-Dancer hadn't lied when he had said that facing those three skeletons would be the easiest day she would have in a while. She ached in places that she hadn't even known existed, but she was so exhausted that she didn't think she could move.<p>

She twitched her tail, trying to shift and wincing as one of her bruises was nudged against something hard, causing it to flare with pain. She had thought she was fairly fit from hauling her old caravan around with her as she travelled from town to town, trying to get the money she needed to live out her dreams, dreams that wouldn't come true now, not after the incident in Ponyville.

Sighing, Trixie watched as Star-Dancer slipped out of the cave again. How he could keep going after that obstacle course he had set up and run with her… one that had taken her over half the day to get through, she didn't know. Then again, he was probably holding back given what she had seen of his speed and power before now.

Reaching out with her magic, she pulled a couple of relatively fresh carrots from her store over and started eating them without any real energy. Not even learning her trade as a performer had drained her, this badly, even though her mother had… her mother had recently died, she had still been able to do more than this, but with Star-Dancer, although he acted more like a father or big brother, he pushed her harder, faster and further than anypony had in the past.

Perhaps she ought to be glad that he was also making sure to keep things different so that she had a chance to rest one part of her body while working on another, though between the physical exercises, magical practice — that was pushing her spells way beyond their normal limits — and teaching he was giving — it was a surprise about just how ignorant everypony was about things outside their normality.

The Powers and Dominions that fought for Themselves, those that fought to keep the balance, people that tried to ensure everypony could choose their own path and those that tried to make everypony do what they wanted and in the midst of it all, a chosen few that went up against creatures from the deepest darkness and brightest light, warriors that hunted down rogue creatures and put undead back where they belonged. Trixie shifted a carrot around in her mouth, looking at it for a moment before spitting it out. It had only been a week and she already knew more than she had wanted to… maybe she was already insane, like those characters from those few horror stories she had actually read.

Maybe she needed to sleep instead of thinking about the week she had had. Sighing, she put her head down for a moment, closing her eyes.

The shock of some Powerful magic being cast relatively close by brought her out of a dream with a yelp. Who in the world could be casting a spell powerful enough that she could feel it in the depths of the Everfree Forest?

She blinked as light flared in the cave, revealing Star-Dancer lying on his own bed, staring at a point on the cave wall. His ears flicked towards her briefly. "So you felt it too?" He asked.

Trixie nodded, flicking her tail. "Ye-yeah… that is some powerful magic somepony performed… more powerful than anything I've ever felt before."

"Powerful enough that I'd guess only two ponies could solo it, both being Princesses." Star-Dancer commented.

"Y-you mean Princess Celestia?" Trixie asked blinking to try to focus sleep blurred eyes.

Star-Dancer rolled slightly, turning to look at her. "It could be Luna as well, or a group of magic users. It's distant enough that I can't tell if it's one or another though." He snorted softly. "Magic never was the strongest point in my family, despite our abilities."

Trixie shifted a little. "What were they like, your family?" She asked, watching him.

"Large, rowdy and probably some of the best damn fighters around, but also pretty close." Star-Dancer replied, closing his eyes. "I don't even remember everyone… but I know that they'd pull out all the stops for one of their own, and I'd do the same for them."

She sighed, remembering her own family. "Must be nice, knowing that they're out there for you." Trixie murmured, laying her head back down.

She heard him moving, but she didn't know why, until she felt his warm body against her own — he was always warm, even though he rarely used a blanket. Closing her eyes, she sighed again as she felt his chin settle against her neck.

"None of your family around these parts, huh, kid?" She heard him ask and sighed, shaking her head slightly.

"Mom… was a performer, a dancer… I… never knew my father, except that he was supposed to be a unicorn with a similar coat colour to mine." Trixie replied softly. "I never had any siblings… an-an-and…."

"And your mother is dead; I can hear it in your voice." Star-Dancer finished for her as Trixie closed her eyes against the tears and nodded. "Losing someone you're close to is never easy, and my grandsire was right… you do find yourself missing them and wondering if you could have done anything to keep them safe and alive." He flicked his tail, nosing Trixie gently as she cried. "I lost my mate and my colt… I still miss them, over a year on. I've lost aunts, uncles and cousins as well and I miss them, some a good couple of centuries after the fact. The pain never entirely fades." He whispered.

"I'm sorry… you barely know me, and yet you're teaching me so much… I just…."

She grunted softly as Star-Dancer nudged her. "Not your fault, kid." He murmured gently. "If someone tells you they know nothing of sorrow or grief, they are either lying or very young children… everyone experiences some sort of loss in their life, some of us are just more likely to get it than others, depending on who we are."

Trixie opened red-rimmed eyes, looking at him. It was… comforting to have him there, and yet he never treated her as a partner, more a student and younger sibling.

* * *

><p>Stopping to rub her horn against a tree, Lyra flicked her tail at a couple of flies that had decided to buzz around her rump in their irritating manner. The last week had been rather quiet, for Ponyville post-Nightmare Moon anyway, or it had been up until last night when something had made her horn tingle.<p>

Pulling her horn back from the tree, she huffed out a sigh. Even though her talent was music rather than magic, her horn was still itchy from feeling whatever magic it was that had happened last night. She glanced up at the sky briefly before turning to trot along one of the well-worn paths out of Ponyville, wanting to gather a few things to maintain her lyre.

Making her way to the grove of trees she usually got wood and sap from for making and maintaining her instruments, she skidded to a halt, seeing a pair of new ponies coming out of it, laden with what looked like heavy saddlebags. Frowning, she studied them from a distance. After what she had learned last week about the dragon she had seen a year ago and the storm just a week ago, she was curious about more newcomers to Ponyville.

The unicorn of the pair was blue, but dappled light and dark, with a silver mane and tail, the Earth pony was a deep green all over. Not the pair that probably still haunted the Everfree Forest, still… what had brought them to Ponyville?

Lyra snorted to herself, hanging around with Firefly, Medley and the 'Elements of Harmony' was making her paranoid, heck, Medley could probably do that on her own, without Pinkie Pie's 'help'. Shaking her head at her own thoughts, she started down towards the pair. "Good morning," She called once she got close enough. "Are you ponies travelling to Ponyville?"

This close to them, she could tell that the Earth pony was actually a stallion, something rather rare amongst the folk of Ponyville, of course there were several around, but the females outnumbered them by between two- and five-to-one.

The mare turned to her. "Actually… we are heading in that direction," She said, shifting slightly under what looked like a fairly heavy load. "My name's Selece and this is Skyrunner," She introduced the pair of them, waving her hoof at Skyrunner.

Lyra nodded to both of them, her hide twitching slightly as her horn reacted to what had to be a lot of magic. "Nice to meet you both, I'm Lyra, one of the musicians in Ponyville." She could almost swear that Selece twitched at the mention of her being a musician, but managed to keep her expression from slipping. "Tell you what, if you'll give me a bit to gather some wood and tree sap, I'll guide you to Ponyville and take you to meet our Mayor to see about getting settled in."

She watched as the pair shared a look. "Thank you, we would be grateful for the assistance." Selece answered finally.

* * *

><p>It was getting late by the time Luna finally made it to the library, without anyone watching her every second. Her back twitched, how in Equestria did her big sister deal with that, anyway? Skyrunner was a nice pony, but he was about as talkative as a brick once he got into 'guard mode'.<p>

The day had been fairly interesting though, what with meeting Lyra, who almost had to have been part of the entertainment meant for the Summer Sun Celebration that she had interrupted, and getting signed into the town records. She still needed to find a place to stay longer term, since even renting, it'd be cheaper to get a house than to stay at the hotel.

Raising her hoof, she knocked on the door and stepped back, waiting for someone to answer. She didn't have to wait long before a small purple dragon opened the door. "Can it wait until morning?" He asked. "We're just closing up."

"I shouldn't take long," Luna responded, shifting slightly. "I've got some books for Twilight that she requested from Canterlot, and a message to go to Princess Celestia if you can manage to put it in with Twilight's daily mails to the Princess." She informed Spike.

Spike gave her a look that was half curious, half untrusting. "So who are you to be sending messages directly to the Princess?"

Luna shifted slightly. "I'm Selece and," She paused for a moment to stop herself from saying 'Big Sister' out where anypony could hear it, "Princess Celestia asked me to bring the books and let her know when I got here. They're the ones Twilight asked for apparently, something about counters to necromancy and another about the history of the town and forest."

"Oh, Twilight's been waiting for those, come in." Spike said, stepping back and opening the door wider.

Nodding to the dragon, Luna made her way into the library and over to a table where she used her magic to lift the two books and note out of her saddlebag and placed them down gently. "Thanks Spike." She said, turning to him. "Is Twilight around anywhere?"

Spike shook his head. "She's out with her friends, Luna."

Luna snorted softly. "I see you read the letter about me coming here and what name I'd be using."

"Yeah, I read it." Spike replied, flicking his tail as he watched Luna. "Are you sure that all this is a good idea though? I mean using a spell to make yourself into a unicorn and everything."

"I don't know, Spike, but hopefully I'll make some friends this way and I won't lose them when I show them who I really am." Luna admitted, looking down at the ground, her ears flattening.

She blinked when she felt Spike patting her neck awkwardly. "I hope it works out for you, Luna." He said. "Nightmare Moon was a nasty one, but I don't think treating you badly would keep her from coming back and you really were looking like you felt bad about everything last time. Maybe friends of your own will help banish the nightmare for good."

Raising her head, Luna nosed the dragon gratefully. "Thank you, Spike," She said, her ears coming back up. "I don't suppose you know anything about the horse, do you?"

Spike nodded, still rubbing Luna's neck. "I know a bit," He admitted before telling Luna what he had picked up from the others, finishing with the fact that nopony had seen him since he had disappeared after the storm.

"I doubt he's completely gone," Luna said, frowning. "More likely he's decided to live out there… that might be a good thing if he can keep a lid on the Forest's more annoying residents, but it means finding him is going to be a pain in the flank."

"Why do you want to find him, anyway?" Spike asked.

Luna shrugged. "It's a feeling more than anything; I just need to find him." She shifted, looking out of the window. "I'd better get back to the hotel, before Skyrunner decides to come and find me and blow everything." She said, twitching her tail. "You think you can tell Twilight that her books are here and send the note to my sister to let her know I'm here safe?" She asked.

"Course I can." Spike replied, letting Luna go. "Bye Luna and good luck." He said as she left the library.

* * *

><p>"<em>The moons have risen round and bright.<em>

_No clouds will dim their steady light._

_The stars like eyes have pierced the night._

_To see the hunters pass._

_Our quarry grazes in the dale._

_The breezes carry us the tale._

_The scent is hot upon the trail._

_And dew is on the grass._

_(Hunting call)__ He starts to run._

_(Hunting call)__ The hunt's begun._

_(Hunting call)_

"_Across the glade, among the trees,_

_Our quarry panic-stricken flees._

_We taste his fear upon the breeze_

_And howl upon his heels._

_Blood-madness fills our brothers' minds_

_Fear-madness now our quarry blinds._

_He searches for escape and finds_

_Our spears and sharpened steel._

_(Hunting call)__ He stands to fight._

_(Hunting call)__ His blood is bright._

_(Hunting call)_

"_He slashes out with hoof and horn._

_His sides and neck are rent and torn._

_He cannot know no stag was born_

_Escapes us when we ride._

_The quarry's down. His life is fled._

_He falls before us, stark and dead._

_Tonight the cubs will sleep well-fed,_

_And all the pack besides._

_(Hunting call)__ Wolfriders we._

_(Hunting call)__ Howl victory._

_(Hunting call)"_

Pushing her orange mane back with a hoof, the tan furred pony stopped, listening to the song drifting on the breeze. It was a terrible song, about death and killing, killing one so another might live and yet… for some reason the words made her heart race. It was almost as if she was a part of the song, running, chasing, seeing the prey ahead and howling out a victory cry.

It wasn't the first time she had heard music during the night, in fact most of the last week her sleep had been disturbed by someone's singing. Tonight she had hoped to catch whoever it was in the act.

Following the sound of the singing, she found herself joined by Lyra and Medley as she reached the edge of town near the edge of the Everfree Forest, "You girls looking for the singer too?" She asked, looking between the unicorn and Pegasus.

Lyra nodded. "Yeah, though… I think I might know who it is." She looked up at Medley, who was hovering over the pair of them. "What do you think, Medley? Singing started a week ago and is coming from the Everfree Forest, think it's the guy that moved back in a week ago?"

"Well… it sure isn't anything else that I know of in there." Medley replied dropping down to stand with the other pair. "Manticores, cockatrices and sea serpents don't sing, otherwise we would've heard them before now, and walking dead things certainly don't." She said with a shudder, remembering the skeletons from a week before.

"What are you two talking about?" Carrot Top asked, looking between the pair of green ponies.

Medley shifted slightly. "Carrot, there's a dragon that looks like a horse around… one that apparently was in the Mayor's house when Nightmare Moon showed up and that came back a week ago, found a pony in trouble with moving skeletons and called down a worse storm than the weather team can gather in a far shorter period." She explained briefly.

Carrot cocked her head at Medley, not sure what the green Pegasus was talking about. Her ears twitched as another song started up from somewhere in the forest.

"_Why does the ground below tremble?_

_Why does the night seem so strange?_

_The world was a messenger telling_

_The world of a wonder change_

_What is that light in the darkness,_

_Brighter than any I'd seen?_

_A Grove-born Companion has risen,_

_And she's chosen our future Queen!_"

Lyra's ears flicked forwards for a moment at the words. "That's him, I recognise his voice. Come on." She whispered to the others before trotting into the Forest.

Following the others into the forest, Carrot shivered as the darkness of the Forest closed around them. Fortunately it didn't take long for them to find a clearing where a black equine was standing, eyes closed, mouth open as he sang.

"So that's the one you saw during the Summer Sun Celebration?" Medley asked Lyra softly, getting a nod from the unicorn. "No cutie mark, but all those spots on his hide… he's the black Firefly and I saw, no doubt about it." She murmured, holding her wings close against her sides as the horse reared up, still singing, but starting to dance as well.

The three mares watched, entranced as he danced around the clearing to a music of his own making before his body rippled and changed, bat-like wings growing out of his back as his body became smaller, changing to stand on its hind legs.

Seeing him changing, Carrot almost screamed, only to be stopped by a pair of hooves over her mouth. Eyes wide, she watched him continue his dance, energy flowing around him, sparking as it hit his scaled hide.

After a while, the ebb and flow of the energy caught her attention. The hooves were lowered from her mouth as she panted, entranced by the patterns and colours that lit the clearing the dragon danced in. Could something this beautiful really be as deadly as those other dragons that had threatened Equestria over the years?

Eventually, as the moon reached its height, the dance wound down. All three mares saw the dragon stop, panting from his exertion. For a moment, it seemed that he looked directly at them before he turned away, his body blurring back into that of the horse before he trotted away.

Carrot sat there, watching after him until Medley bumped her side with her wing. "Come on, Carrot, we can't stay out here all night." She said, rising and starting towards Ponyville.

Nodding, Carrot waited until Lyra had gained her hooves before getting to her own, walking with the pair back towards her home.

The trip back was remarkably quiet, each of the ponies lost in their own thoughts about what they had seen that night.


	5. Chapter 5

Okay, a bit longer than most of the previous chapters, hopefully the internal monologues and such come out right given I'm not that good at them. Still, a bit of drama in this one. Dash will survive though, since this is pre-Best Night Ever and she needs to be around for that.

The ponies belong to Hasbro, the Dforgrym and Star belong to me.

* * *

><p>Lazing on a cloud near Ponyville, Firefly watched the ponies passing each other by in the street, wondering. How many of those ponies actually knew both of their parents? How many had parents that had only focused on each other? With the way the mares outnumbered the stallions in most towns and cities that she had been to, she was going to bet that stallions had to mate with mares at least three times in order to get a colt on average, probably more. How many fatherless foals were there because of that?<p>

She shook her head, blue mane flipping from one side of her neck to the other. It didn't really matter, though one thing that did was something that she needed to do today. While purple coats weren't exceedingly rare, even if Twilight was the only one she actually knew about, purple eyes were probably rarer around Ponyville and the only three Pegasi that had them, as far as she could tell, and all had the same sire — her sire.

Looking down, she watched as Scootaloo dragged the other Cutie Mark Crusaders off on whatever adventure they were planning now to get their cutie marks. Firefly snorted softly to herself, most of those that stopped to look at them could tell them what they ought to be focusing on to get their cutie marks, if the silly fillies would listen to an adult. Apple Bloom would either be a farmer or a carpenter/decorator with her skill at woodwork, Sweetie Bell would probably be a singer/song-writer if she actually took the time to focus on the songs rather than running off all day to do whatever crazy scheme Scootaloo had cooked up. Firefly smiled slightly when she thought about the orange-furred Pegasus filly. Scootaloo looked to be taking after herself and Dash, though with a bit more grace and dance than Dash had; of course she might well end up an actual dancer, if she took the time to try it.

She watched the group as they travelled through the town for a moment before flicking her ears back to where some of the weather team were working. It was about time that a certain rainbow haired pony found out a few home truths about her sire, and about why she was given the leadership of the weather team. It was also about time that a certain orange Pegasus also learned a few things about her own family and learned how to use those wings of hers for what Celestia intended them to be used for.

Getting to her feet, Firefly pushed off the cloud she had been lazing on. It was time to introduce Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash to one another as sisters for the first time.

Flying down to the town, she collected Scootaloo from a sticky situation that the Cutie Mark Crusaders had already gotten themselves into first, telling Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell that in this case, it was something that only Scootaloo could do, though they might be able to watch later, once it was set up, before settling the younger Pegasus on her back and taking to the air again, flying for the last place she had seen Rainbow Dash.

* * *

><p>"Alright, alright, I'm coming, geeze." Dash rubbed her eyes with one hoof as she made her way to the door of her home on the outskirts of Ponyville. "What can I…" She trailed off as she opened the door to reveal Firefly and Scootaloo standing outside. "Do for you… Firefly?" She asked, looking up at the older pink Pegasus.<p>

Firefly shrugged her wings before dropping one to rub Scootaloo's mane. "Actually there's a couple of things we need to talk about, Dash." She said. "Can we come in to discuss them?"

"I um… that is… I guess?" Dash said finally after having to close her mouth when she realised her tongue was starting to dry out. Stepping back from the door, she waved the pair into her home, wondering just what Firefly wanted to talk to her about and why Scootaloo of all fillies was involved in it.

Twenty minutes later, after having gotten her guests settled and given them drinks, she sat carefully on one of the couches in what served as her main room. "So, Firefly, what actually brings you up here, especially without Medley hanging around you?" Dash asked, shaking her wings out before settling them against her flanks.

Firefly sipped her drink for a moment, taking the time to compose her thoughts. "I left Medley out of this because it's a family matter, Dash." She replied, looking between Dash and Scootaloo. "I don't know how much you remember of your parents, either of you, but I'm older than both of you." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "My mother was a good friend of your mother's, Dash. I was there when you were born, though I was younger than Scoot at the time. One thing that's always struck me was your eyes, they're a bit more red than mine, but they're still purple, the same purple that our father had actually, Scoot and I have more blue in our eyes than you do, or he did, but our father is the same pony."

Her mouth was drying out again, that was Dash's first thought, causing her to close her mouth with a snap. How in Equestria did Firefly know who her father was anyway? "How… do you know that?"

Firefly shifted slightly. "I looked it up, there are only ten possible purple eyed Pegasi in Cloudsdale, I checked our birth certificates, yours and mine when I was old enough to wonder about things, then Scoot's once I saw her at the school here in Ponyville." She took a sip of her drink, looking at Dash. "That's only part of why I'm here though, but it was something I wanted you to hear from me, so I could explain before anyone started any rumours that nepotism was the last thing on my mind when I stepped aside from my position as leader of the weather team in your favour. That was so you could learn the leadership skills and pony skills that you'll likely need as a Wonderbolt."

"You… knew about my dream?" Dash asked, still trying to get her wondering thoughts back onto what the hay was going on instead of going every which way.

Nodding, Firefly watched Dash try to absorb what she had told her. "Even back then you wanted it. I've been there; I remember seeing Soarin', Wildfire, Spitfire and some of the others join. If you do make it in, and you've certainly got the flying skill to _without_ the Rainboom that'd just be the icing on the cake. The problem is you didn't have the leadership or inter-pony skills needed for the Wonderbolts since they spend as much time at parties that are a lot stuffier than the ones Pinkie Pie throws or surrounded by screaming fans. The other thing you don't have is skill at training, which is why I want you to show Scoot the ropes." She looked down at Scootaloo, who seemed to be just as shocked by the day's events as Dash before looking back up at the blue Pegasus. "I trained you as well as I could, given how young we were, showed you the ropes before you went to the Speedsters, Dash, now it's time for you to show Scoot the same ropes and Scoot, it's time you learned how to use your wings to ride the winds as well as push that scooter of yours along. There may well be a day when you'll need to fly, even if you prefer walking or using your scooter."

"I…" Scootaloo started before turning to Dash. "Are… are you going to show me how to fly, Dash?" She asked.

Dash frowned at the air above Firefly. "I…" Could she train Scootaloo? Could she train the pony that she had always seen as a good kid and cared about in her own way, and was now — if Firefly was to be believed — her younger sister. "I'll do what I can, squirt, but I don't know much about training ponies." She said, looking at Scootaloo before turning to Firefly. "Firefly… sister… do you really think I can do this?" She asked, feeling more than a little unsure.

Firefly nodded. "I do, Sis, I believe that you can train Scootaloo and make it into the Wonderbolts, maybe when Scoot gets to that age, you'll be in my position, giving her a filly to train personally to follow both of you to lead a weather team and become a Wonderbolt."

* * *

><p>With sunlight blazing through the trees, the clearing didn't look anywhere near as scary as it had seemed the previous night to her eyes. Carrot looked around, trying to spot something that would explain just what she had seen last night. She knew the other girls had seen something as well, but she couldn't understand why they weren't talking about it or why they weren't shocked… it was almost as if they had known that the… creature that had been dancing last night was out here.<p>

Looking around, she frowned at the hoof prints in the dirt, ones that criss-crossed the clearing before changing into prints from a three-toed lizard-thing. Carrot shook her head, no it hadn't been a lizard that that stallion had turned into, it had been some type of dragon. What kind of pony could turn themselves into dragons anyway? Come to that, what had been up with those glowing lights?

Still frowning, she glanced around before sighing in relief, at least she wouldn't have to deal with that overly bouncy pink pony for a while, she really didn't know what Applejack and the others saw in that one besides nuisance. Sighing again, she tracked the footprints back to where they became hoofprints once more. What had that stallion… dragon… thing… been doing dancing out here in the middle of the Everfree Forest anyway?

While he had danced, he had been covered in glowy trails, but what had those been? Huffing out another sigh, Carrot closed her eyes, trying to remember the previous night. Focusing on the memory, she took a breath and let it out slowly, letting her focus on her surroundings fade with each breath, until the memory was clear — a little trick her mother had taught her long ago when she had been having strange dreams that she couldn't recall in the morning, though most of those hadn't been anything particularly interesting in the end.

That was when she felt it beneath the soil, beneath the ground, raw energy flowing swiftly through the clearing, flowing a lot more cleanly through it than…. Carrot snapped out of her trance all at once as the thought crossed her mind. Something else that had happened when she had been a foal had been that she had felt some sort of energy under the carrot farm she still lived on, but that had been a lot wilder than this, spread out all over the place. Eventually she had found that in the places where it was strongest, her carrots grew better, but that seemed to shift and change at random intervals, the stream here seemed to flow clean, quick and clear, like a rushing river. The question was, where was it rushing to and what did… she gasped as she realised something else. The dance that dragon had been doing had called energy to it, maybe the same energy she could feel now. What if it had changed the flow somehow? Cleaned it up so the energy could flow more quickly and cleanly through this clearing… if that was the case, could she do something similar to clean the flow under her farm and Sweet Apple Acres to improve what they had?

Where would she learn how to do something like that though? The library? Carrot nodded to herself, flicking her tail briefly. Yes, if anypony in Ponyville would know anything about earth energies and how to move them around or clear them up, it would probably be Twilight and if she didn't, she would either have or be able to get a book on it. Her musings were interrupted by something crashing through the undergrowth, something coming _from_ Ponyville.

To say that she was surprised when a half-grown orange Pegasus bolted out of the bushes, almost knocking her down was an understatement. In fact it took her until said Pegasus was almost out of sight before Carrot recognised the filly. Scootaloo, the Pegasus of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but what was she doing running _into_ the Everfree Forest of all places?

"Scootaloo, where in tarnation do you think you're going?" The words were out of her mouth before she had even managed to turn around, but they were enough to pull the young Pegasus up short.

"I've got to… Rainbow Dash is in there and she might be hurt!" Scootaloo responded, turning towards Carrot with tears in her eyes.

"You can't go in there alone, it's dangerous." Carrot said, stomping a hoof for emphasis. She immediately regretted it as Scootaloo turned to her, sniffing slightly and looking up at her with pleading eyes. Had she been taking lessons from Apple Bloom? Knowing what was going to come next, Carrot sighed. "Alright, we'll go together, _but_ if I tell you to run, you run back to town as fast as you can go, understand me?" She asked.

When Scootaloo nodded, she sighed. This was going to be a long day, but here was hoping that by the end of it everyone came out okay.

* * *

><p>Shifting the strange tablet Star-Dancer had given her between her hooves, Trixie frowned as she read what was on the main part of it — the screen Star-Dancer had called it. There was so much in this thing, far more than any book she had ever read, and yet all the information that it contained only brought up questions that she couldn't see any answers to. Still, at least it was a break from having to run obstacle courses through the forest or <em>try<em> to fight Star-Dancer, or work on her spells to try to improve their capacity and her endurance with them.

How did so many planets work without having a goddess to raise the sun and another to raise the moon for example, the information on the screen said that there were gods and goddesses aplenty, but they weren't needed to handle what was nominally a natural process. Apparently something called 'gravity' held the planets in rings around the sun while the same thing held moons to planets the same way. Moons, planets and stars, each spoken of as if there were hundreds, if not thousands of them out there and species by the million, everything from plants that were apparently so small you could only really see them when there were masses of them all together up to dragons that could actually fly between stars under their own power.

Her musings were interrupted by the sounds of hoof-beats along the dirt path that led to her cave. Flicking an ear, she looked towards the source. It probably wasn't Star-Dancer, he somehow managed to move around without making much noise, certainly not as much as was coming. Getting to her hooves, she began to focus her magic, preparing to defend her home.

"Alright, I don't know who is out there but you can stop right there." She called out, keeping her eyes open enough that she could see, even though she was holding the spell she had ready.

She managed to avoid dropping the spell when a tan Earth pony and an orange Pegasus filly burst out of the bushes and skidded to a stop in front of her. "Who are you and why are you out here in the Everfree Forest?" Trixie asked, letting the spell fade, but still watching the pair with narrowed eyes. She didn't recognise the foal, but the mare… "Didn't you have green hair?" She blurted out.

Trixie shifted slightly, watching as the mare struggled for a reply, but was diverted by the filly. "We don't have time for this… Rainbow's in the forest and she's gotta be hurt the way she went down. I… I can't leave her here, not after…" The filly said, looking down at her hooves, tears starting to dampen the soil. "Not after Firefly told us that the three of us are sisters."

The plea cut through any defences Trixie thought she had set up against the thought of family, not that it really mattered given how much she was recalling her own mother with Star-Dancer's talking about his family. Moving over to the young Pegasus, she leaned down and hooked her head over the filly's neck. "Do you have any idea where she went down?" She asked gently.

The filly shook her head. "Deeper in, I don't know more than that." She whispered.

Trixie sighed softly. "I wasn't planning on leaving the cave today, but I don't think I can stand around when someone's family is involved." She said, nosing the filly gently. "Just let me tidy up and get something quickly, okay?" She asked, looking between the pair. When the mare nodded, she let out a sigh of relief, quickly grabbing everything she had brought out with her and taking it into the cave before taking a set of saddlebags with bandages and bits of wood for splints and settling it onto her back. Trotting back outside, she flicked her tail, grimacing as she felt it snag, next time she actually made it into a town, she was going to have to get it and her mane cut, especially if she was staying out here in the forest. "Alright, let's get goi—." She trailed off for a second, remembering something. One 'trick' Star-Dancer had taught her was how to talk to him without talking. _:Star-Dancer… I could use your help. There's a Pegasus filly at the cave that's lost someone important to her in the Forest, I'm going to help searching, but I'm not a good fighter yet, if we run into trouble, I might need your help.:_ She thought, hoping that it would actually reach her mentor.

"Then why don't we get going, before the cockatrice or manticore decides to come wandering around." Star's voice came from the bushes on the other side of the clearing from the cave. Trixie watched as he stepped into view, causing the mare to move in front of the filly protectively. "I won't hurt a child, youngling." He said gently, looking down at the other mare. While he always looked down at others, it seemed to be simply because he was so tall compared to them.

The mare took an uncertain step backwards as Star-Dancer approached. "Why should I believe a dragon that hides what he is?" She asked harshly.

"I've never hidden what I am; I'm just more comfortable in the form I was born in." Star-Dancer responded honestly. "And I'm a half-dragon, Franthoryn specifically." He added before frowning slightly at the mare. "You were one of the ones that watched me last night, weren't you?" He asked, "Along with the flier and the unicorn."

Trixie blinked when the mare jumped at the accusation.

Star-Dancer snorted softly. "Figured as much given what you asked," He said when the mare didn't respond further. "Let's get moving we can talk en route." He said before starting off into the forest, Trixie following behind him.

* * *

><p>"Alright, I've got her… though I don't like the look of her." The words woke Dash up. Groaning, she tried to shift, only for her entire body to flare up in pain. What the heck had she managed to hit? Come to that, what had she landed on? Opening her eyes slightly, she tried to breathe, only to find that she couldn't pull any air into her lungs thanks to something blocking her nostrils. Opening her mouth, she sucked in a deep breath and immediately regretted it as her ribs flared up.<p>

Was this it? Was this the end of her life? Dash winced as her side flared again, she could feel something hot and sticky oozing down her side. She hadn't even gotten to try out for the Wonderbolts… she hadn't taught Scoot anything… she hadn't…. Something else warm and wet blurred her vision before trickling down her snout. There was so much she hadn't done.

"I hope this works." A female voice said from below, causing the blue Pegasus to twitch slightly before she felt herself starting to float. This was it, she was dying and leaving her body behind. Closing her eyes, Dash sobbed quietly, crying for everything she hadn't managed to do in her life.

"Good work, Trix," The male voice said again. "If you start getting tired though, let me know, you're getting stronger but a week won't improve your abilities that much." Dash was sure she heard a snort after that, but she was too worried about her own life, a life that was flashing before her closed eyes. She snapped out of it when she felt something scaly touching her. It felt like Spike's hand, only a lot bigger. "This is going to be trouble. She's impaled on four or five branches, I'm going to have to cut her clear, then you'll have to float her down, Trix." The male voice said again, this time much closer to her.

"Just make it fast please… I'm used to ropes, not fully grown ponies for this trick." The female responds, making Dash wonder briefly just who had found her dying here.

Dying… without even really getting to know whether what Firefly had said was true or not. Granted she had always felt close to the older Pegasus, but sisters? And Scootaloo as their younger sibling? Dash still wasn't sure if she liked the thought of being Scootaloo's sister, but she had to admit it had been rather lonely in her cloud house sometimes and Scoot was a good kid… she just wasn't sure whether she was able to be a good big sister and now she wouldn't get the chance to find out.

She felt a light tap on her cheek. "Hey, don't go passing out on me now." The male again, Dash managed to open her eyes and blinked, seeing a scaly black snout inches from her own. "The last thing I want to see is you passing out, especially since I don't have any Pegasus blood to replace what you've been losing." He said as his form blurred, losing focus, only to be replaced by a worried pink snout. "Hey, stay with me now, kid." His voice said, overlaid by Firefly's. "Take a breath," Dash did so and felt a straw put against her mouth. "Drink, it probably tastes like crap, it did the last time I had one, but it'll help."

Sucking some of the drink through the straw, Dash grimaced. It tasted like some of the concoctions Twilight made sometimes. Twilight, somepony else that she had something with but not enough time left to find out what that something was. "That's a good girl," The dragon said, his form blurring into Twilight's for some reason. "Now, I'm going to cut your snout free, but I'm not going to remove the branch through your nose, otherwise we risk you suffocating of drowning in your own blood." He continued. Dash felt something warm glide across her cheek, then her head drooped down.

A growl from somewhere in the forest brought Dash's head up, causing her to struggle against whatever was holding her. "Enough," The dragon said firmly, taking hold of Dash's snout. "I don't know whether that's a fight response or a flight one, kid, but you can't do either at the moment and struggling won't help you any, we need to get you down without doing you any more harm." Blue eyes appeared in front of her, glowing softly in the dimness of the forest. "Relax your body, but stay with me, we'll get you out of this and back to your village." He said gently, one scaled hand rubbing along the top of her head, between her eyes. "Just let us deal with everything." He turned to look down at something. "Trix, I'm going to speed things up since we've got an ugly around, you need to hold for another five minutes if you can. Kid, stay close to Trix, if ugly shows its mug, hide and stay hidden, Blonde, I'll be down fast, but you might need to distract whatever growled, stay ready."

Three more in the group that had come to find her? Dash whimpered as pain made itself known again. Who could they be? Was Scoot one of them? Was the kid seeing her like this? Hurt… dying…. Tears trickled down her snout again, she didn't want the kid's last memories of her to be something like this, of her dying by inches, stuck in a tree.

* * *

><p>The glowing blade that marked his status as a member of the Dforgrym cut easily through one of the branches that held the blue Pegasus impaled. Three down, two to go, unfortunately they were both on the far side of her body from where he had climbed up to her and the tree was thick enough that he didn't dare use his own wings. "Stay with us, kid." Star-Dancer murmured, rubbing the Pegasus' forehead gently before looking down to where Trixie was doing her best to hold the spell that kept the Pegasus supported while the orange filly cowered next to her. He grimaced at another growl from the forest. Those were getting closer, which didn't bode well for his charges if he didn't get this mare down and get them out of here in a hurry.<p>

Looking around, he spotted a likely place to grab onto and leapt across, his claws digging into the tree bark as he held himself on. Getting himself facing the Pegasus, he wrapped his tail around the tree trunk and brought his blade across one of the branches impaling her, cutting it free. "Gotta love weapons that are spirits, they make this sort of thing so much easier." Star-Dancer muttered to himself, only to sigh as a growl echoed from below along with a childish scream.

Glancing down, he grimaced, seeing a scorpion tailed lion-like creature that towered over the three ponies in the clearing. Manticore, damn thing must have scented blood and come looking for a meal. Unfortunately he couldn't take it on and ensure that the Pegasus would be okay at the same time. "Distract it for a minute, blonde." He called, shifting into position to take a swipe at the last branch.

"Distract it?" The blonde mare called back, her voice shaking. "Distract it how?"

"Kick it in the jaw and run in circles." Star-Dancer replied, looking back at where the blue was suspended in Trixie's spell. Bracing his feet on the tree and digging his claws in, he leaned over, using the blade to cut her free. "Okay Trixie, get her down as gentle as you can, I'll deal with sting-tail." He called before dropping off the tree, letting Trixie float the Pegasus down.

Landing with a grunt, he shifted back into his birth form, moving towards where the manticore was roaring at the blonde mare and trying to stab her with its tail. "Alright, my turn." Calling on his power, he surrounded himself with electricity before charging into at the manticore, catching it in the side as it swiped at the blonde mare again, sending it flying.

Seeing it roll back to its feet and growl, Star-Dancer grinned. "What's say we teach sting-tail to mind his own business?" He asked, glancing at the pony. With a flick of his tail, he charged again, followed by the mare, just like old times, facing off against the odds and knowing that despite them looking like they were in the other guy's favour, they could take this.

* * *

><p>Lowering the blue Pegasus to the ground, Trixie grimaced at the sight of her. She knew this Pegasus, the last time though, she had been full of energy and trying to show her up, now…. Letting the spell fade, she looked at the younger Pegasus that was cowering against her side, ignoring the sounds of the battle for the time being. "You think you can handle this, kid?" She asked gently. Huh, Star-Dancer must have been rubbing off on her.<p>

"'M name's Scootaloo." The orange filly responded, sounding worried and sick at the same time. Now doubt she had never seen an accident _this_ bad before.

Nosing her gently, Trixie used her magic to pull off her saddlebag with the medical kit in it and trotted over to where Dash lay unmoving. Carefully, she placed a knee near Dash's open mouth and sighed in relief. At least the blue Pegasus was still breathing, that was a good sign. Waving Scootaloo over, she pulled out a bottle of disinfectant. "Okay then Scootaloo, you think you can take this and pour it over her wounds, carefully." She passes the bottle to Scootaloo before taking another one out with her magic. "Don't do anything around her nose, I'll deal with that, but we need to clean her up before we take her to the hospital." She glances at Scootaloo again. "And leave the branches where they are, Star-Dancer left them in for a reason so I'm not prepared to go against him." Especially since he could easily kick her flank in both magic and physical combat. When Scootaloo nodded, Trixie turned to Dash. "Okay then, Dash I think you said your name was when last we met…" A slight motion of Dash's head that was probably a nod was her response. "Scootaloo and I will be disinfecting your wounds, try to stay still, even if it hurts." It certainly did when Star-Dancer had cleaned her up after some of their training sessions.

Carefully, she poured the disinfectant over Dash's wounds, wincing at a crash from the other side of the clearing. "Here's hoping neither of them need this as well." She muttered, keeping her attention on ensuring the wounds Dash had were disinfected, even though the Pegasus pony was whimpering from the pain of them. Finally, she told Scootaloo to put the bottle down and cap it before pulling a cotton bud out of the pack and dipping it into her bottle with her magic. "This'll probably hurt worse than the rest." She murmured to Dash before carefully rubbing it around Dash's nose where the branch had gone through the area between her nostrils. That done, she used more magic to bandage her patient up, tying the branches as tightly as she could so they wouldn't move.

By the time she was done, Trixie could see the tears leaking from Dash's eyes from the pain and the pained look Scootaloo had as she lay against Dash's neck, sniffling. Nosing them both, she looked up as Carrot and Star-Dancer returned. "I've cleaned her up as best I can, but we need to get her to a hospital as soon as possible." She said.

Star-Dancer nodded, moving forwards to put a hoof on Scootaloo's shoulder. "Stand back a bit kid, I'll need some room to work." He said before looking at Trixie. "Trix, you think you can spell her onto my back and hold her?"

Trixie shifted slightly, pawing the ground as she thought. Seeing Scootaloo's look hardened her resolve. "I'll do it, even if it knocks me cold." She said firmly. When Star nodded, she closed her eyes to concentrate, carefully lifting Dash again and hovering her over Star's back. She heard him grunt as she let the pony go and opened her eyes to see the pair. "Best I can do right now." She said.

Star-Dancer nodded, twitching his tail. "Then I'll get her to Ponyville's hospital."

"We… we don't have a hospital, the nearest one is in Canterlot." Carrot said, stepping forwards and limping slightly. "Nurses Redheart and Tenderheart are good, but I don't think they can handle something like this… and it'll cost a lot to heal her."

Star-Dancer narrowed his eyes. "Then I'll take her to Canterlot and get her the medical attention she needs… and if that doesn't work, I'll call in some friends of mine, who probably won't be impressed." He said before looking at the trio. "Stand back, all of you."

Grabbing Scootaloo's tail, Trixie tugged the foal back as a pair of wings sprouted from Star-Dancer's back. Letting the filly go once she thought they had a safe distance, she turned to watch as Star-Dancer bulked up considerably, scales replacing fur once again. This time though, he stayed on all fours as he grew to twice his previous height. Once the transformation was complete, Trixie nudged Scootaloo. "Come on, Scootaloo. I'm sure Dash will want a friendly face around before and after she sees the doctors." She said, walking up to the dragon. When had she become so blaise about dragons, anyway? Oh, right, when Star-Dancer saved her flank from a bunch of walking skeletons.

* * *

><p>Swooping down towards the mountain city of Canterlot, Star-Dancer risked a glance back at his cargo. Scootaloo was curled into the base of his neck, holding tight to Rainbow Dash. The wind had long since dried her tears, but he knew she was still hurting for the hurt Dash had received. Unfortunately there was little enough that he could do without calling in the nearest ship somewhere over a million miles away from here. The medical facilities aboard could fix most anything if they were used in time, he just hoped the same could be said of a hospital on this world.<p>

"Hang on tight." He ordered, furling his wings and going into freefall. Sharp eyes picked out the most likely building for the hospital and he angled towards it. He could hear Scootaloo screaming as the ground approached at what would be an alarming rate were he not used to pulling this sort of stunt. Of course normally he didn't use freefall at this range from an inhabited area and he didn't have anyone with him, though it did make for rapid deployment from orbital ships.

"**CLEAR THE GROUND!**" He roared at the ponies who were staring up at him. Snapping open his wings, he grunted as he turned the dive into a short glide and skidded along the road in front of the hospital. That was going to hurt later, as would the bruises from the manticore, not that this would be the first time he had ignored his own wounds for another.

Digging his claws in, he skidded to a stop in front of the hospital itself and glanced back to ensure Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash were still in one piece. "Sorry about that, but speed is important with an injury like hers." He apologised to Scootaloo before ducking down and using one claw to drag a door open. "Get a stretcher out here and get an emergency operating room prepped, I've got an injured Pegasus here." He snapped at the few ponies inside.

It didn't take long for a stretcher to be brought out to him. It seemed that people paid a lot of attention to someone that looked like they could eat them in one or two bites. Funny thing that. Shifting back to his horse form, he slid Dash onto the stretcher carefully. "Kid here's name is Rainbow Dash out of Ponyville, apparently she was taking a chance to show off some stunts to the little filly, one went wrong and she ended up crashing into the Everfree Forest." He reported, having done this far too many times to count. "We found her impaled on a tree, five branches through her. One skimmed her back but went through her wings, looks like it got flesh though, another went through her nostrils, we've got one in her flank, not a deep penetrator that one, fourth is in her shoulder, also didn't penetrate too deeply and the last skimmed thr ribs, it's a through and through, but it went through the flesh. She's got bruises and probably a few broken bones from the impacts before she came to rest, I didn't see any that broke the skin, but check it in case."

The doctor nodded as two bearers carried Dash into the hospital. "Are either of you a relative and who bandaged her up?" He asked.

"I… I am." Scootaloo said, swallowing. "She was teaching me how to fly… Firefly told her to and told her that me and Dash are her sisters." She sniffled as Star put a leg around her, drawing her against him.

"A friend of mine did the bandaging, I cut her down, then Trixie disinfected and bandaged everything as well as she could while I was fighting off a manticore that decided to sniff around where it wasn't wanted." Star-Dancer said, holding Scootaloo gently. "I'm an old soldier, I've seen wounds like those and worse before, so I had Trix leave the branches for you guys to remove. She's been in and out of consciousness during the flight, but I gave her an energy drink with iron suppliments to help with blood loss." He said as the doctor nodded.

Shifting slightly, doctor frowned. "You said she's from Ponyville and there's another sister?" He asked.

"Firefly… she's a pink Pegasus with a blue mane and tail and two lightning bolts as her cutie mark." Scootaloo said.

"Alright then, I'd better get started on removing those bits of wood." The doctor said, turning towards the hospital again.

Reaching out, Star-Dancer caught his shoulder. "Doc, if this needs payment, I'll pay it. I've lost enough family that I won't let another family lose someone for lack of money."

* * *

><p>Twilight stared at Carrot Top and Trixie, able to feel Applejack's disbelief beside her. "What do you mean Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo had to go to Canterlot of all places?" She asked, trying to work out just what the heck was going on, and why the trickster unicorn was back in town.<p>

Carrot sighed, glancing at Trixie. "I told you they would ask questions." She said, scuffing the ground with one hoof. She still wasn't sure why Trixie had stopped her from going with the others, except for the fact that it would mean more room wasted and less speed available.

Trixie nodded, looking up to see a pink Pegasus descending towards them. "Twilight, Rainbow Dash _needed_ to go to Canterlot." She said, looking back at the purple unicorn. Her rival, the only unicorn that had bested her in magic stood before her along with the one Earth pony in this town that had every reason to hate her guts. Trixie took a deep breath as the Pegasus landed easily nearby and let it out slowly. "She needed to go because… because she got hurt showing off for Scootaloo. Star-Dancer and I… we did what we could, but I'm a showmare," She said, before lowering her head and her ears. "Well, I was a showmare, now I'm trying to learn how to be a ranger." She corrected herself.

"You were the other pony Medley and I saw just before the storm, weren't you?" Firefly asked suddenly, getting a jump from Trixie.

"I was, but the storm was him." Trixie said before shaking her head violently. "It doesn't matter though, look, Star-Dancer, Carrot, Scootaloo and I found Rainbow Dash when she crashed, but she was hurt bad, she had branches through her body. Star-Dancer took her and Scootaloo to Canterlot so she could get medical attention." She said, twitching her hide. "I just hope _he_ gets medical attention as well, he and Carrot fought off a manticore to protect me and Scootaloo while we patched Rainbow Dash up for the trip." She said, looking up at the horrified faces of the three mares.

"She's telling the truth, girls." Carrot put in, her ears lying back against her head. "Dash is hurt bad, when we found her, she was in a tree but there was only two branches that I could see holding her, one of them was through her nose." She said, shifting slightly and wincing as her sore leg flared up again. She had limped most of the way back to town because of the blasted thing.

"We've got to—" Twilight started.

"No time, Sugar-cube." Applejack cut her off, placing a hoof over her lips. "Get yer balloon, me, you an' Spike can ride it all the way an' Firefly can use it if she wants."

Firefly shook her head. "I'll… I'll join you in a bit. I need to talk to Scoots' mother first since this is my fault."

Twilight turned to look at Firefly, arching an eyebrow. "Why is it your fault? Dash was probably being Dash, except she got really hurt this time." She pointed out, though her voice held an edge of worry and panic.

"Because Dash and Scoot are my sisters… and I only told them today, along with asking Dash to train Scoot." Firefly responded sadly.

"Tha' don' matter, Sugar-cube." Applejack pointed out. "We all care fer Dash an' Scoots, just 'cause yer sisters don't mean Dash'll suddenly start actin' mature an' ya're still welcome ta join us." She said, getting a nod from Twilight.

Trixie twitched her tail. "I'll make sure Carrot gets patched up and make sure that manticore didn't follow us." She said with a sigh. Family again, it would be so nice to actually have a family of her own but she was always on the outside looking in. Nudging Carrot, she turned, letting the Earth pony lean on her as she walked slowly towards the medical centre.


	6. Chapter 6

As always, the Dforgrym characters belong to me, the ponies belong to Hasbro.

The next chapter might be a while in coming though, I'm at work for this week, then on a course in London and it's coming up to heavy work time at work. On the other side, I've been playing with a new story writing program. It's missing a few things, like a decent spelling and grammar checker, but yWriter has got a few advantages over Word.

The bit latter in the chapter relating to a possible apocalypse is something I'll probably fill out a bit more in later chapters, when I start developing the characters' abilities a bit more in depth since there should be some reason for the differences between the pony types and behind the whole controlled environment thing going on here. It also will link back to the gen-1/gen-2 things I'm working in to the timeline since from what I've seen and read of the older MLP generations, they didn't have the whole shebang with Earth ponies and Pegasus ponies having such unique abilities.

* * *

><p>More than half the city was abuzz with the news of a dragon bringing a pony to the hospital, and even more were wondering just what reason a dragon could have had for coming to Canterlot since almost everypony that had been outside had seen the big black beast flying down into the lower area of Canterlot. That was why the Princess of Equestria had forsaken dignity and left half the guards that had insisted on coming with her behind as she charged through the streets of Canterlot.<p>

Skidding around another corner, she found herself outside the hospital that the dragon had come to, panting from the unaccustomed exercise. Flicking a glance at the pair of Pegasi that joined her, she took a deep breath as she strode towards the hospital, the Pegasi pushing the doors open in front of her. "I have come for the dragon, where is he?" She asked aloud as she stepped into the building.

"Right here, princess," A male voice said from her left, making her turn to see a black stallion with an orange Pegasus filly asleep on his back. "Or would you prefer me to be showing all of my scales?" He asked, walking forwards, ignoring the two guards that moved to intercept him. "I am not here to cause any harm to you or your subjects, Princess Celestia, only to save a family that has only just found itself."

Celestia looked up at him, a novel experience for her considering more often than not she was looking _down_ at everypony. As he moved closer, her eyes widened at the sight of scars showing through his fur on his face, chest and shoulders, broad shoulders that moved with the ease of a trained soldier despite the weight on his back. "You say you did not come to hurt anyone, yet you scared several ponies right here in this facility."

Star-Dancer flicked his tail, "Scared doesn't mean hurt. No harm came to anyone here. The only one hurt was the one I brought to this hospital and that was something of her own doing; I only cut her down and brought her here as fast as my wings could carry me. Speed is of the essence when someone is injured, the faster they're treated, the better their chances of recovering." He pointed out.

The doors at the back of the waiting area burst open, drawing attention away from the conversation between the princess and the half-dragon. "Mr. Dancer, Ms. Rainbow Dash is out of surgery. I'm happy to report that…" The doctor trailed off as he took in the scene.

"You're happy to report, Doctor?" Star-Dancer asked, turning to look at the grey pony that had taken Dash earlier, ignoring the shock and horror on Celestia's face.

"I'm happy to report that Ms. Dash will make a full recovery. She's resting currently and on a drip and blood pack because even with those branches being kept as still as they could, she still lost a lot of blood, but we've managed to remove every trace of them and heal her flesh wounds. Her cracked ribs and shoulder blade will take a bit longer to heal, but we've reduced everything we can." The doctor reported, looking between the princess and the half-dragon. "Erm… is there something going on between you and Princess Celestia, sir?"

"Just a discussion, Doctor, nothing to worry about," Celestia replied, having managed to gather her wits. 'Dancer'? Was this pon— dragon the one that her sister had been chasing after in Ponyville? "You said Rainbow Dash was brought in earlier, is she in a fit state for a visit?" She asked.

"Well… she's sleeping at the moment, Your Highness, but I can take you to her room if you would like." The doctor said a little nervously.

Celestia nodded. "That would be fine, please lead on." She turned to Star-Dancer as the doctor left, her eyes narrowing. "Our conversation isn't finished yet, dragon, but it seems at least a few people owe you a debt of gratitude." She said before following the doctor.

Star-Dancer snorted softly, moving after her. "More of them than you know, princess." He murmured, glancing back at Scootaloo as one of the Pegasus guards moved up behind him.

* * *

><p>Opening her eyes again, Dash groaned as her body reregistered its complaints with her mind. Shifting carefully, she felt something rubbing against her side and looked down carefully, seeing bandages wrapped around her. What the hay had happened to her? Come to that, where was she? The last thing she remembered… the last thing she remembered was showing off to Scootaloo near the Everfree Forest and trying to perform her Filly Flash, only for the stunt to go seriously wrong. She wasn't even sure how the stunt had gone so bad, just that something had gone bad.<p>

"Well, it looks like someone is awake again," A male voice commented from the side, causing Dash to turn around and whimper as her wounds flared up. "Easy, youngling, you need to take things slow and rest while your body finishes healing itself." The black stallion said, his voice seemed familiar somehow. "You were in quite a state when we found you and the doctors needed a good few hours to get all the bits of wood out of you and seal your wounds."

"You're… you're the one that Princess Celestia wanted us to find, aren't you?" Dash asked, shifting slightly, "The one that caused that storm a week ago."

Star-Dancer nodded. "That was me, my name's Star-Dancer and I'm also the one that cut you out of the tree you crashed in and brought you here." He replied, watching her for a moment. "You think you can handle some company, because your sisters and two of your friends are waiting around outside, worried sick about you."

"Why're you in here an' not them?" Dash asked, looking up at him, trying to figure out what he was about.

"They needed to sleep, I can go without it longer before it starts to affect me and Celestia needed to get back to ruling." He replied, moving towards the door to the room and opening it. "She's awake." He said before getting out of the way so that Scootaloo, Firefly, Twilight and Applejack could enter the room.

Dash glanced up at Star-Dancer as Scootaloo scrambled up onto the bed with her. Twitching her tail, she hooked a leg around the filly. "Hey, squirt, I'm okay, just a bit sore." She said, nosing Scootaloo gently before looking up at the others. "Hi guys…." She started, expecting Twilight, at least, to give her a lecture. She wasn't expecting the purple unicorn to nuzzle her carefully, tears in her eyes. "Wh-What's with the waterworks, Twi?" She asked.

Twilight sniffed, rubbing her cheeks. "I just… I'm glad you're alright, Rainbow." She replied, her voice sounding like there was more to her words than she was actually saying. "When Carrot and Trixie told us, I was worried about you."

"Worried enough that Ah ended up covering her mouth more'n once on the way here." Applejack teased gently, nudging Twilight, "Glad to see you doin' better though, Sugar-cube, from what Carrot said, Ah was expectin' ya to be a mess." She said.

"Yeah… I guess the doctors did a pretty good job on me." Dash replied, rubbing Scootaloo's back with her hoof gently.

Firefly shifted, placing a hoof on Scootaloo's back as she looked down at her sister. "So what did happen, Dash?" She asked the rainbow haired mare. "I don't think I've seen you crash this badly before."

Dash shrugged one of her wings and grimaced as it ached. "I don't really know, I was showing Scoot some of my tricks, then something went wrong with one of them. The next thing I know, I'm waking up to a voice saying they'd found me."

"The last bit was me, and it was a good thing I had decided to take to the trees, otherwise you probably would have been there longer." Star-Dancer said, moving forwards again. "I don't think I've seen a stunt go wrong enough to leave someone impaled quite a way from where they started the stunt before, but then I don't know what caused it, and there are a few pockets of really nasty things around that forest. Probably enough that it'll be decades before it's clear of them."

* * *

><p>Flicking through the birth certificates in the Canterlot library, Star-Dancer frowned as he finally found the copy of Trixie's birth certificate, dated nearly seventeen years ago. Pulling it out, he read through it slowly, finding her mother's name and her father's. Frowning as he jotted the last down using his telekinesis, he slipped the certificate back into its place in the record stack before getting up and making his way to where the local librarian was sitting. If he was right about things, more often than not the mare of the pairing would be the one that would keep the foal with them. It would make sense given how close the ponies were to horses in terms of social structure, with stallions being less common than amongst other species.<p>

"I'm looking for any other birth certificates listing this unicorn as the sire." He said, flicking his tail in a distinctly draconic manner.

The mare shifted slightly as she took the note. "May I ask why you are interested in this particular stallion?"

Star-Dancer rippled his hide in a shrug. "I'm friends with a mare called Trixie, she said she didn't know her sire, so, since I was in the neighbourhood for another reason, I thought I'd see what I could find out about him, I found this name on her birth certificate." He replied, watching the mare as she started working on things. "Though that said, while I'm here, do you have the birth certificates for Firefly, Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash of Ponyville? I think Dash is still a bit unsure about the three of them being related and she's stuck in hospital for a few more days, so might as well take those to her as well."

Nodding slightly the mare continued to work for several minutes before heading off down the rows of bookcases to dig out the certificates, taking them to make magical copies of. The last bit made Star-Dancer frown. In most places he had been or checked up on, few though the latter was, you didn't just get given access to someone's records so easily. Why was this mare gathering them up _before_ checking him out? Unless it was Celestia's orders that had her acting like this, though that begged the question of why the 'sun goddess' would let a half-dragon like him have access to potentially incriminating documents and her citizens' personal information.

The mare finally returned several minutes later holding the documents in question. "I'm afraid that I can't allow you to take these off the premises mister…."

"Star-Dancer," Star-dancer replied, frowning slightly. It failed to surprise him, but he did need to make copies of those things somehow, if for no other reason than to have some physical evidence to support what he was saying. Meaning he needed something to make a copy of them. This would have been so much easier in a world with decent electronics tech, though he still had a backup datapad in a dimensional pocket, one that had a scanner, a 3D scanner come to that. "Well, if I can't take them off-site, can you place them on the counter open? I've got something that might give me something I can use without damaging the originals." He said, frowning as a small hole opened in the air next to him.

Pulling out the spare datapad with his telekinesis, Star-Dancer watched the librarian's eyes widen in surprise and snorted softly. "Don't ask, the technical details are over my head and I grew up with them." He told her before using it to scan each of the birth certificates starting with Trixie's, then the other who shared her sire, frowning as he noticed the name on it before moving on to Firefly, Dash and Scootaloo's. The last three confirming what Firefly and Scootaloo had said. "Thanks," He said, putting the datapad away and starting for the door to the library.

* * *

><p>"There must have been at least twenty walking skeletons by the time Star-Dancer came," Trixie said, enjoying herself with tale-telling again. It felt good to be able to play the show-mare for a while. "I was surrounded by them, and while I had managed to keep them from ripping me apart, I was beginning to wonder whether I would see the dawn."<p>

"What happened next?" A young white unicorn filly asked.

Trixie shifted, looking towards Canterlot. "Well… a lightning bolt came along the ground, smashing one of the skeletal ponies away and revealing a black pony, or what looked like a black pony. I'll admit, I was stupid, I told him that 'The Great and Powerful Trixie' didn't need his help and do you know what he said?" She asked, looking at her audience, who shook their heads. "He said 'She'll be the 'Dead and Risen Trixie' if she tries taking on twenty undead alone.'" She snorted softly, shaking her head. "Turns out he was right, because after that, we were fighting for our lives. I managed to pin or knock down some of the skeletons, but he saved me twice, once with a kick, another time by freezing one of the skeletons as it attacked me.

"Eventually though, more of the things started rising around us, so he pulled a storm down on them. He shielded us, but there were bolts landing real close, some as close as we're sitting now." Trixie said, shifting slightly. "At one point, I saw one bolt hit three of the skeletons as they attacked, blew them to pieces it did." She watched as the foals maded sounds of awe. "When it was over… I realised I owed the stallion my life and he looked completely exhausted, so I took him to the cave I had been living in and he started teaching me. Most of it I don't really understand yet, but hopefully I will." She said.

"An interesting tale to be sure, but how much of it is real?" A young, boyish voice asked from somewhere in the crowd.

Looking around, Trixie spotted a purple dragonling scowling at her and shifted uncomfortably. She remembered that dragon, though she had never heard his name. He was the one that had constantly been heckling her out of the crowd the last time she had tried to perform in Ponyville and he was the one that had fetched Twilight when the Ursa Minor had appeared in town. "All of it, little dragon," She said soberly. "I left out some of the details because of the foals here, but the tale itself is true. The remains of the skeletons are lying in the forest around what I guess was the site of their deaths, and I have some scars from where I was bitten or kicked by them, plus nopony I know of can pull a storm out of clear skies that's bad enough to cover several miles, not to mention pull lightning down in one place." She flicked her tail. "I can summon a storm cloud, but I can barely shock a filly with the lightning it produces… Star-Dancer managed to pull down lightning bolts as thick as I am long."

She saw the dragon scowl at her and sighed. Given what had happened last time, it wasn't that surprising that she was getting this treatment by one of the ones that had witnessed her antics. "Look, dragon, I didn't come here to cause trouble, I came here because Carrot was hurt from fighting a manticore to keep it from hurting me, Scootaloo or that Dash pony that tried to show me up last time. These fillies wanted to know where Scootaloo was, so I told them, then they asked how I'd met Star-Dancer, which is the story I just told."

"You know Star-Dancer?" A feminine voice asked, making Trixie turn to see dappled blue unicorn with a silver mane and tail.

Trixie arched an eye brow at the newcomer. "I do, but what is it to you?" She asked. "Who are you?"

"I'm Selece," The other replied. "I came to Ponyville to try to make some friends, but also to try to find a dragon-horse by the name of Star-Dancer, because I keep having strange dreams about him."

Trixie frowned at the other unicorn. "I've never heard of somepony dreaming about another pony before, but you must know something about him if you already know what he is." She commented. Especially since she hadn't mentioned just what he was to the foals. Still, she wasn't going to take what was said on face value as yet, but it might be nice to have a few friends in town.

* * *

><p>"I really don't think you should be walking around just yet, Dash." Firefly said, grunting a little as Rainbow Dash staggered and ended up leaning on her hard. "You haven't recovered from that fall you took yet." Truthfully, she really hadn't expected Dash to be up and walking this quickly, since it had only been two days since she had been brought in with branches stuck in her. Firefly grimaced at the memory of her feelings when she had heard about that. It hadn't been any wonder that Twilight had been crying with the news that Dash had been hurt that badly.<p>

Regaining her balance, Dash snorted softly. "I can't just stay in bed all day, Firefly. I need to be doing something, even if I… even if I can't fly at the moment." She said sighing as Firefly nuzzled her gently.

Pulling back from the nuzzle, Firefly looked at Dash. "Dash, you've been here two days, if that, and you were unconscious for most of the first, you shouldn't be walking yet." She said, "Look, I know you want to stay active, but I was a Wonderbolt, I've seen the sorts of injuries they get and they stay down a lot longer than you have with something this serious."

"And I already feel much better, Firefly, I just…" Dash flicked her tail. "I can't stay in here; I need to go back to Ponyville, to my home and to Scoots… I need to make sure she's okay and that she doesn't think that what happened to me is her fault."

"She doesn't, but she would be more upset if you went and hurt yourself more trying to cheer her up." Firefly pointed out. "There's a _reason_ Medley and I tease each other about danger, Dash, because there's been more than a few times when we've come close to ending up with something going badly wrong."

Dash grunted before lowering her head. "I know, but…."

Firefly sighed, seeing Dash looking away from her. "Look, if you're going to insist on going back, let's have the doctor ponies look you over, then see about getting a carriage or a balloon ride back." She said, nosing her sister gently. "And you can stay with Twilight, she already offered if you couldn't fly for a while after getting released."

"Okay, Firefly." Dash replied, returning the nuzzle, "Thanks."

* * *

><p>Luna frowned as she and the other blue unicorn made their way through Ponyville's medical centre, not entirely certain what they were doing in here. She watched as Trixie spoke to one of the nurse ponies, before leading her to where a tan pony with an orange mane and tail was lying, bandages wrapped around her foreleg. "Excuse me for asking, but why are we here?" She asked the blue unicorn.<p>

Finding herself a place to sit again, Trixie tossed her head before sighing as her mane simply dropped into her eyes again. Pushing out of the way, she looked over at Carrot. "Because while I know Star-Dancer the best, Carrot saw some things that I haven't, some that might explain some things." She said.

Carrot snorted softly, shifting carefully so she didn't jar her sore leg. "If you mean the thing where he lived up to his name, I'm not the only one who saw it, just as Firefly probably isn't the only one that saw you two fighting those walking bones." She pointed out, waving her leg. "Lyra and Medley were there too; in fact Lyra was the one that led us to the place."

"Wait, walking bones?" Luna asked, honestly confused now. "As in things that look like they're one of those skeleton models some of the schools have but they're actually moving around?"

Trixie nodded, shifting slightly. "Yeah, I ran into twenty or more of them, Star-Dancer blasted the ruddy things with a storm… worst storm I've seen in all the years I've been travelling. I don't think 'The Great and Powerful Trixie' ever had a storm that bad show up or a scare that bad." She explained before sighing. "That was probably the death of my stage persona right there, I'll admit I was scared witless while that storm was happening, especially since he was dropping lightning right next to me."

Carrot shifted again before leaning over to nuzzle Trixie. 'The Great and Powerful Trixie' was a braggart that had hurt quite a few people, but this Trixie was a lot different from her. "I can understand why you were scared, heck the first time I saw him turn into a dragon, while he was dancing in a grove not too far from my carrot farm, I would have screamed if Lyra and Medley hadn't stuck their hooves over my mouth." She admitted. "Though when I went back this morning, I did notice something… something you'd probably know more about."

"Oh?" Trixie asked, looking over at Carrot and getting a nod from the other mare. "What sort of thing?"

"Well… when he was dancing last night, I noticed some sort of glowy trails around him, ones that sparked off his hide. This morning I tried a trance to try to remember what he did and I ended up seeing some sort of river of energy under the clearing, running fast." Carrot explained, looking between the two unicorns.

Trixie shook her head, "I don't know anything about anything like that." She said.

"I do," Luna put in, "But I didn't know anyone else did except maybe someone that's lived a long time or really studied up on magic." She explained, shifting slightly. "You both know that every species of pony has their own magical abilities, right?" She asked, getting nods from the pair. "Pegasi can walk on clouds and manipulate weather; Earth ponies can coax life in the least hospitable places, getting amazing results with plants while unicorns can do the most magic, casting spells and such. What few people know is that the magics each group does actually works together… while unicorns can cast amazing spells, the power for some of them doesn't come from them but from the land itself, from rivers and channels of energy that should flow across Equestria, however some of those spells can completely mess up the weather causing storms or dry spells, making days of blazing heat in winter or freezing cold in summer." She flicked her tail as she remembered, remembered herself and Celestia learning about the natural patterns of magic back when they had both been fillies.

Back in those days, things weren't as complex as they were now, but at the same time, they were in some ways more intimate. "From what I can remember, at one point, before Nightmare Moon came into being, before Celestia and Luna became princesses, only the unicorns could do magic, but something happened at one point… I don't remember the details, but magic started going wrong, some areas had spells explode from overcharging while in others nopony could do any magic at all. It was eventually discovered that this was because magic was doing things it shouldn't do, it wasn't following its natural patterns. Of course they found that out primarily because they decided to track things and found in some areas strange weather and plant growth corrisponded to where spells went awry. I don't know what happened next, but there was some sort of cataclysm and when it was eventually resolved, they found that Pegasi could manipulate the weather while Earth ponies could perform feats of strength, drawing on the strength of mountains or bring life to deserts.

"From then until Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon, I believe that the system was created such that Earth ponies, because of their abilities with the natural world, were sent to open new towns, to try to bring wild magic back into its natural patterns and bring life back to devastated areas. Pegasi created a city of their own, where they started focusing on dominion of the skies and the weather and unicorns studied magic itself, trying to learn spells that would force away creatures created by the wild magics and purify those left." Luna explained, closing her eyes to try to remember what she had been taught and what she had seen over a millennium ago. "I don't know what happened to those ideas under Princess Celestia's reign, but I think the Everfree Forest as well as being the original home to the royal sisters, is also cursed with over a thousand years' worth of miscast and misspent spells, who knows what sort of beings could have been created from a cauldron formed of the battle that sent Nightmare Moon to the moon itself."

"Manitcores, Ursa Minors, cockatrices, skeletons and a river serpent that I've seen," Trixie replied, shifting uncomfortably. If what Selece was saying was actually true, then it could explain her encounter with the walking dead. Maybe they hadn't been created by a necromancer, maybe they had just been victims of the magic left from the battles.

Carrot frowned at Luna for a moment. "That bit about the energy rivers actually makes a bit of sense." She said finally. "When I've been farming, I've noticed that my carrots seem to grow better where I can see the energy under the ground of my farm and it does seem to shift randomly." She said, flicking her tail. "I think the Apples over on Sweet Apple Acres get better apples off some trees than others and it seems to change from season to season, though they tend to put it down to the trees rather than magic."

"You said there were other ponies around that knew of Star-Dancer?" Luna asked, looking away from Carrot. "Do you know where he or they are?"

Trixie frowned. "Well… he's in Canterlot at the moment; Rainbow-mane got herself stuck in a tree…" She grimaced, "Actually, she got herself stuck _to_ a tree, so after he cut her down and chased off a manticore with Carrot's help, he took her to the hospital, he'll probably be back in a few days since he doesn't seem to like town much. As for others, I don't know, Carrot?"

Carrot shifted again. "Scootaloo knows since she went with him, so do the fillies she hangs out with. Applejack, Firefly and Twilight know he's in Canterlot since we told them. I doubt they kept things from their friends, so probably Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy and Medley know about him… actually, Medley definitely knows about him, she was with me and Lyra when we saw him dancing. Bonbon probably knows as well, since she and Lyra are close."

Trixie frowned. "Firefly mentioned something about flying over and seeing me and Star-Dancer dealing with the skeletons, if she and Medley are as close as you say, she probably saw that as well."

Luna shifted slightly. So many people, she expected the Elements of Harmony to know, Spike as well, since her sister had sent the message to Twilight through Spike and she had talked to him a bit when she dropped off the books. That so many others did as well was odd, though in a town like this… maybe it was to be expected. "I think I've met Lyra, green unicorn with a lighter mane and a lyre cutie mark?" Getting a nod from Carrot, she flicked her tail. That helped; maybe they could keep things from spreading too far too quickly. "Do you think I could meet him when he returns and meet these others as well?"

Trixie shrugged. "I don't see why not, though I'm _not_ going around the pretty-pony. After what I did as a showmare, she's likely to do something nasty to me… actually; I'm surprised that dragon-boy is the only one that's made any comments about that damned Ursa and my actions last time I was here."

"Well, you didn't do too badly holding it up until Twilight could subdue it." Carrot pointed out. "Sure Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash aren't happy about you using your magic to make them look bad, but those of us that saw you tackling that Ursa saw you try your best." She leaned over to nose Trixie again. "You should have stayed, admitting you had made things up and helping to drive it off went a long way to helping your reputation with most of the town."

Luna shifted slightly on her hooves, rubbing one foreleg uncomfortably. "You probably aren't the only one that feels bad about what you did before something happened, Trixie." She said. "I heard a bit about when Nightmare Moon showed up, I think Princess Luna felt similarly to you when all was said and done and the Elements of Harmony had broken the spell of hate on her."

* * *

><p>"An interesting observation, my student, but why do you think that this dragon would come from so far away that most of the local dragons no longer have such abilities?" Celestia asked, looking down at Twilight.<p>

Twilight shifted uncomfortably before shrugging. "I… don't really know, Princess." She admitted. "What I do know is that wherever it is he comes from, it is a long way away. No dragon I know of would mate with a pony… well, except Spike, but he's way too young to be thinking about that." She looked up at her mentor and blushed at the look on the Princess' face. "Erm… never mind, a-anyway… from what we can figure out, he came around the time of the Summer Sun Celebration, when Nightmare Moon appeared, as I said in my letter… I did send a letter about this, didn't I?" She asked nervously.

Celestia shook her head, frowning to herself. While Twilight did sometimes end up rambling about things, she wasn't normally this bad about it and she didn't normally forget to send letters or reports about things either. "You didn't, but since we're here now, why don't you explain everything to me?" She asked encouragingly. She didn't want her pupil to feel nervous about talking to her, in fact, if she had the chance, she would have liked to hide the way Luna was at the moment, except that it would probably cause a whole herd of problems.

"Well… um… we think… that is…" Twilight stammered for several moments trying to get the words out. "We think he came in time to see the Summer Sun Celebration, saved some of your guards and did a few other things before… well, he went back to where Nightmare Moon appeared from what Lyra said, it's possible he was looking for something but didn't find it, so he went off on his own for ages before returning to rescue a blue unicorn called Trixie from a herd of skeletons. I know I told you about her, she was the trickster that caused problems for several of my friends and ended up being the reason a cranky Ursa Minor came into Ponyville, though she tried to stop it. Since then though, I've not heard anything of him until Trixie and Carrot Top — one of the farmers who specialises in carrots in Ponyville — came to tell us that Dash was hurt and he had brought her here to hospital."

Twilight shifted slightly, looking up at her mentor. "Actually, we didn't know that Trixie knew about him until she came to tell us about Dash… we knew there was a blue unicorn that had encountered skeletons in the forest because Firefly and Medley flew over the clearing they were in before the storm and they and Dash went back the next morning and saw three of the things still moving." She shivered at the memory of Dash putting a pony's skull down on the floor of Applejack's barn. It had taken them hours to get Fluttershy to stop hanging on to Applejack and Big Mac after that.

"B-b-but you c-c-can't go in there… Princess Celestia said she was not to be disturbed!" A voice exclaimed from outside the door, only to be followed by a snort.

"Look, bootlick; Celestia said she wanted to see me in her castle at three." Another voice responded, this one with a definite hint of a growl to it, along with the assurance of a career soldier. "This is her castle and it's three and I'd rather not need to make new doors or windows, but you're really beginning to annoy me to the point where I'm going to give you a flying lesson."

One of the guards standing near the double door leading into the study Twilight and Celestia were relaxing in sniggered into his hoof before coughing and snapping to attention. Celestia narrowed her eyes at the guard. Apparently he enjoyed her servant's predicament, something she might need to talk to him about later.

"Oh my stars… I've never heard anypony talk to one of the stewards like that before." Twilight muttered giggling as the steward in question tried to stop the big pony outside the doors again.

"Sit. Stay." Star-Dancer's voice came again, this time with the unmistakable tone of authority. "Good boy, now play statue." Celestia giggled into a hoof for a moment before somepony knocked on the wooden door with an iron-shod hoof, or something that sounded very much like one.

Recalling herself to her regal duty, Celestia flicked an ear at her student before turning her attention to the door. "Enter," She called, watching as the double door swung open to reveal the large dragon-horse. She had to admit that on second viewing, he was probably more impressive than on the first, certainly Twilight seemed to think so as she gasped, even the guards took a brief step away from him, their jaws dropping as they saw him. "My, you are punctual." Celestia commented, trying to figure out a way to start a conversation with the old warhorse.

Star-Dancer shrugged. "It helps to be good at time keeping when lives depend on it." He pointed out, moving into the room and glancing around, taking note of the guards and the windows.


End file.
